Week 9 - Gnocchi

#vegetarian #gnocchi #potatoes

Light, fluffy gnocchi are dressed with green and served with a roasted tomato sauce (with optional cream)

Basic ingredients

3-4 medium potatoes (Russet, King Edwards, Maris Piper are best) - try and get them all the same size

Plain flour

1-2 eggs

Salt & pepper

Collage of dishes from the cooking class

PREP

Night before: boil potatoes (1 per person) until a knife goes all the way through with a little effort.

Turn oven on 200/180 fan/gas mark 6 · Boil a full kettle · Lightly beat one egg in a bowl ·

Put cherry tomatoes in dish, drizzle with olive oil and put in oven.

COOK

Peel your cold potatoes. Mash until smooth - don't over mash or gnocchi will be gummy. If you have a potato ricer, even better. Pour half beaten egg & salt into mash. Mix with fork.

Flour the surface with half a mug of flour to start. Plop ball of eggy mash on top and sprinkle more flour on top. Gently combine the flour and potato until you have a soft dough. Don't knead as if it's bread or the gnocchi will be heavy.

In a deep saucepan of very salty boiling water, test a gnooco by pulling an inch piece of dough off the ball. Drop gnocco in water, as soon as it rises to the top, time for 60 seconds and remove. Roll the gnocco off a piece of towel roll to dry it. Taste.

Note: you are not testing for flavour but for texture.

If it is mushy, add more flour to the dough and repeat test. If on the second test it is still mushy, then you probably overcooked your potatoes.

You can rescue your gnocchi by later on skipping the boiling phase and just pan frying them carefully. Next time, cook your potatoes for less time.

Making the gnoochi: Slice off some dough and roll with your hands to make a long sausage, the thickness of a chipolata. Use a knife to cut off 1 inch segment. Lightly flour to stop them sticking to each other in the pain.

Optional: use a fork to make the indentations on the individual gnocco.

Repeat until all the gnocchi are made. Cute! You can freeze extra gnocchi and then cook from frozen in the future.

Cooking the gnocchi: In small batches, carefully drop the gnocchi into the salted boiling water. Time 60 seconds when they all rise to the top, drain and put aside. Repeat but make sure the water is bubbling each time with the new batch.

Simultaneously, put on a frying pan with some olive oil and butter to fry the cooked gnocchi. Set aside until all gnocchi are cooked and pan-fried.

GARNISH

Top with sauce of your choice, fresh basil, butter, olive oil, salt and pepper is a nice one.

Remember: gnocchi takes a little practice to get right.

Hints to help you:

- Use old potatoes (drier)

- Use Russet, King Edwards or Maris Pipers (if you're not in the UK, go for a starchy, dry potato).

- Rest the cut gnocchi before boiling them to dry then out a little.

- Don't over mash and don't over knead.

- If it all fails, then just fry them and don't boil!

Join us for a Tuesday cooking class.

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