Gnocchi is something to be ordered, not made. I have made it a couple of times - potato, potato with spinach, and now sweet potato. The little writeup even talked about how adding sweet potato is a good trick for novices because taking away some regular potato would remove some of the gluey potential. Ha.
I have heard good gnocchi described as airy and light, as little clouds. Mine were like lead. Mine were the opposite of airy and light. Mine were a travesty. Oh, but we still ate them with sage and butter and Pecorino.
Sam was even excited at the prospect of dinner because he has had the gnocchi that I buy frozen from Trader Joe's. I sauté them in butter and melt a little cheese on them. He loves those gnocchi. Of these, however, he said, emphatically, "I don't like them." But I had worked so hard and was so angry that they didn't turn out well that I snarled at him to eat them or eat nothing and if he chose nothing he would most likely throw up in the morning from low blood sugar. So there.
I know that I went wrong in a couple of places. The sweet potatoes were perfectly roasted, but the yukons were not. Little, hard bits of potato in your gnocchi? No, thanks. I guess I also worked too much flour in, which would create toughness, but I just don't get how to not add so much. I have worked with many doughs in my day. With bread, I know the difference between "tacky" and too darned sticky. But these gnocchi were a mess and I kept adding and adding flour.
And don't even get me started with how difficult it is to roll the little guys off the back of a fork for the cute little tine impression. Mine were far from cute. And tough. Did I mention tough?
The one saving grace was that I further developed my browned butter sauce. If you have never done it, I highly recommend melting a few tablespoons of unsalted butter, letting it brown, throwing in sage, and then tossing your pasta in the pan too - gnocchi, cheese ravioli, even a plain pasta would be good.
But, do yourself a favor, and order gnocchi at a restaurant or purchase frozen for home.
I am going to disagree. Mark Bittman has a great recipe in the NYTimes - they actually were light and airy - the kids were ecstatic! The Trade-off - time to bake the russets first. It takes about 90 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes.
ReplyDelete(Another "but" - He says you can freeze them. I froze them, and then tried to cook them resulting in mashed potato water.)
Here's his recipe: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/02/21/magazine/gnocchi-of-a-different-color.html?ref=magazine&_r=0
I remembered something else. I had the same issue with cooking after freezing. What I found does work is if you do a combination of sautéing and steaming. So, heat butter and oil in a nonstick skillet, add your frozen gnocchi, let them brown a bit, then throw in a 1/4 cup of water, or more, depending on how much gnocchi you have in there, clamp a lid on and let them cook through on low. You have to fiddle with the timing, water, and all that, but it's better then throwing away your homemade gnocchi!
DeleteWell, I am a glutton for punishment, and I believe in Bittman, so I will try his recipe. Thanks for the link. I bet baking is the key because flavor will be there and the meat will be dry and starchy. Sweet potato just isn't starchy in that way.
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