The best gnocchi I have ever made + cookbooks that go beyond recipes

It’s not a secret how addicted I am to cookbooks and after I discovered the amazing “Eat Your Books” I no longer felt guilty for buying so many of them because I actually use my books all the time – I cook and bake from them regularly. Some cookbooks I love because of their recipes, while others won my heart over for reasons other than food. Some of them get me really emotional, while others are a lot of fun to read, like Andrew Carmellini’s “Urban Italian”: not only is the food great, but his writing is equally wonderful. How could I not love a cookbook that mentions “Law & Order” and that asks for garlic sliced a la “Goodfellas”? :) And on top of that it’s Carmellini’s the recipe for the best gnocchi I have ever made.

The best gnocchi I have ever made
from the delicious and beautiful Urban Italian: Simple Recipes and True Stories from a Life in Food

900g (2 pounds) Idaho potatoes, scrubbed (I used Asterix potatoes)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup (140g) all-purpose flour + extra flour for rolling the gnocchi
2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon table salt
¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 200°C/400°F. Prick each potato several times with a fork and place on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan large enough to hold them all in a single layer. Bake until the potatoes are tender enough to be easily pierced with a small knife (about 1 hour).

Remove the potatoes from the oven and let them cool slightly—just enough so that you can handle them, not more. They should still be steaming when you cut them open (about 6 to 10 minutes). (If you let the potatoes get too cold, the proteins in the egg won’t bind with the potatoes, and your gnocchi will fall apart). Cut each potato in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Press the potato flesh through a ricer set over a large bowl. Using a wooden spoon, gently stir in the beaten egg, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, melted butter, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of flour. The mixture should be stirred only until the ingredients are combined: anything more will overwork the dough, and your gnocchi will come out tough. Work the mixture into a smooth ball; if the dough seems a little too moist for this, add a touch of flour (the moisture level in every potato is different, so every batch of gnocchi will be a bit different, too).

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Working quickly, divide the dough into 6 portions. Roll each portion into long logs, approximately 30cm (12in) long. Sprinkle the rolled-out logs with a tiny bit of flour to keep them from sticking to the surface. Cut each log into gnocchi-sized and place the pieces on a lightly floured baking sheet. Cover this with a cloth or plastic wrap until you’re ready to cook the gnocchi, so they don’t dry out.

Cooking the gnocchi: bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the gnocchi in batches. Let the gnocchi cook until they rise to the surface (about 1-2 minutes); wait one more minute and then, using a slotted spoon, remove the gnocchi – I place them directly into the hot tomato sauce so they don’t stick together and grab as much flavor from the sauce as possible.

Serves 4 – this recipe served 3 at my house

Olive gnocchi with parsley garlic sauce

Thank you all for being so supportive about my disastrous bread. I learned that KJ and Jenjen, two of my favorite bloggers, did not have any luck with this recipe either. And Syrie, tks for the suggestion of leaving Jamie a message – it had crossed my mind, but I thought I was being too childish... :)

With all the info I have received from you and from the people who read my blog in Portuguese, I ended up thinking that Jamie’s cooking recipes are great, but his baking recipes might not be all that. I say that because the complaints are about cakes and bread and not about pasta and salads.
Anyway, my new book has arrived and I am sure I’ll be baking some amazing bread this weekend. :)

I’ll offer you something savory today: a recipe adapted from here. I omitted the mushrooms just because I wasn’t in the mood for a grocery store trip. But even with this very simple sauce it was a good pasta dish – Joao had his gnocchi with tomato sauce and loved it.

I did have to use more flour than the amount called for in the recipe, but I believe it was the potatoes’ fault. Make sure you use potatoes that are suitable for gnocchi.

Olive gnocchi with parsley garlic sauce
from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Gnocchi:
800g (about 3) large desiree potatoes
3 egg yolks
80g (½ cup) black olives, pitted and finely chopped
110g plain flour*
salt

Sauce:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
50g butter
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced**
1/3 cup (loosely packed) flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
grated parmesan, to serve – I took the photo before adding the cheese, duh!

For gnocchi, bring potatoes to boil in a large saucepan, cook until tender (25-30 minutes). Drain, peel and pass through a potato ricer into a bowl while still hot. Beat in egg yolks and salt, add olives and flour and gently work mixture together. Turn onto a floured work surface and, using your hands, roll into 2cm-thick logs. Cut logs widthways into 1½cm pieces, pinch in the sides of each piece slightly and set aside.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add gnocchi and simmer over medium heat until they float to the surface (2-3 minutes). Transfer to a tray to keep warm.
Heat olive oil and butter in a large frying pan, when butter starts to foam, add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft (2-3 minutes). Add gnocchi, gently toss until coated, scatter with parsley, sprinkle with parmesan and serve immediately.

* I ended up using more flour because the dough was extremely soft
** I used garlic infused olive oil instead

Serves 6

Ricotta gnocchi with lemon thyme butter sauce

I know that many people frown at the simple mention of the name “ricotta” - right, C.? :)

I’m not one of those. I really like ricotta and find it very versatile. You can use it in both sweet and savory recipes and jazz it up with a diversity of flavors.

Valentina posted this gnocchi recipe a while ago on her blog in Portuguese and it sounded so easy I had to try it myself. Another use for the wonderful lemons in my fridge and also for my newest addiction: fresh thyme.



This is my entry for the Weekend Herb Blogging, this time hosted by Margot, from Coffee and Vanilla.

Ricotta gnocchi with lemon thyme butter sauce

Gnocchi:
250g ricotta cheese
¼ cup (25g) grated parmesan
1 egg, lightly beaten
½ cup (70g) all purpose flour
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
extra grated parmesan, to serve

Sauce:
80g unsalted butter, room temperature
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Start with the sauce: place all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring, until the butter melts completely. Remove from heat and set aside.

Now, the gnocchi: place the ricotta, ¼ cup parmesan, egg, flour, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well until smooth – the ricotta cheese we have here in Brazil is a bit dry, so I started by breaking it with a fork and then added all the other ingredients. You'll see specks of ricotta in the gnocchi because I did not want to overmix the dough.

Transfer the mixture to a lightly greased or coated with cooking spray surface and shape into a long log; cut the gnocchi – they should be about 2cm.
Make indentations in each dough ball with a fork – I did not do that.

Cook the gnocchi in a large saucepan with boiling salted water – as soon as the balls come up to the surface, they will be almost ready; let them cook for another 30 seconds then remove them carefully from the pan, using a skimming ladle.

Heat the sauce, pour over the gnocchi, sprinkle with parmesan and serve at once.

Serves 2