what I ate last: home-made gnocchi and tomato sauce
Having my memory jogged by making Nuccia's tomato sauce, and by hearing stories of gnocchi being eaten in London, today I made gnocchi with the left-over mash from last night (another good thing about cooking for one is that there's always plenty of leftovers). Having probably not made these for over a year, I wondered whether I might have forgotten how, but Nuccia's teachings were obviously deeply ingrained because they turned out perfectly, even if I do say so myself.
This is one of those recipes that is impossible to give quantities for. Break an egg or two into a pile of mashed potatoes (I made enough for two and used one egg) and mix up gently with a fork. Start gradually folding in flour, keeping a light touch. I couldn't possibly tell you how much flour goes in, except that when you've used enough the dough should be silky and hang together in a ball so that you can knead it very gently by hand. The silky feeling is what you want; too much flour and the dough will be hard and lumpen when cooked. It's really just enough flour to bind the potatoes into a coherent piece of dough and stop them dissolving while they cook. Then start shaping the gnocchi laying them on a floured surface. They swell up when cooked so make them small - the finishing touch with Nuccia was always to mark the surface with a fork so it looked stripy (holds the sauce better? makes the gnocchi less likely to fall apart when cooking?) so they should be about the size where a table fork will easily mark the whole surface, and not too fat. About the size and shape of a large broad bean.
Then dust them over with flour, boil your water, throw them in and they are done when they rise back up to the surface. Serve immediately - no waiting for anybody! The lightness of the dough makes homemade gnocchi totally different from the lumpen, heavy dumplings that go by that name in packages or bad restaurants. These should be light and smooth, and I think tomato sauce is really the best accompaniment, none of this cheesy stuff that people sometimes smother them with. These are so easy to make, and quick, I must remember to do them more often.
This is one of those recipes that is impossible to give quantities for. Break an egg or two into a pile of mashed potatoes (I made enough for two and used one egg) and mix up gently with a fork. Start gradually folding in flour, keeping a light touch. I couldn't possibly tell you how much flour goes in, except that when you've used enough the dough should be silky and hang together in a ball so that you can knead it very gently by hand. The silky feeling is what you want; too much flour and the dough will be hard and lumpen when cooked. It's really just enough flour to bind the potatoes into a coherent piece of dough and stop them dissolving while they cook. Then start shaping the gnocchi laying them on a floured surface. They swell up when cooked so make them small - the finishing touch with Nuccia was always to mark the surface with a fork so it looked stripy (holds the sauce better? makes the gnocchi less likely to fall apart when cooking?) so they should be about the size where a table fork will easily mark the whole surface, and not too fat. About the size and shape of a large broad bean.
Then dust them over with flour, boil your water, throw them in and they are done when they rise back up to the surface. Serve immediately - no waiting for anybody! The lightness of the dough makes homemade gnocchi totally different from the lumpen, heavy dumplings that go by that name in packages or bad restaurants. These should be light and smooth, and I think tomato sauce is really the best accompaniment, none of this cheesy stuff that people sometimes smother them with. These are so easy to make, and quick, I must remember to do them more often.
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