Gnocchi aka little pillows of delicious

This is a small harvest of my garden garlic - only a few survived the husbands Spring rototilling  and re-established themselves in some fairly unusual places.

These were in with the zucchini

The other day is was raining (surprise! no...)  and chilly (surprise? no...) so I made gnocchi.  

They were so delicious. 

I didn't take a picture as they are quite white with a quite-white cheese and cream sauce.  Next time  I make them I will try a tomato and pesto sauce - and post a picture. Or sprinkle them with parsley. 

They were so delicious.  

 Here's the recipe

Gnocchi

3 large Potatoes (baking type)

1 large Egg

1 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Pepper

Little bit freshly grated Nutmeg

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

2 cups  Flour - more or less

boil  potatoes until soft (not so soft  that they are falling apart)

Drain until cool enough to touch. (The hotter the potatoes are when they are  riced, the lighter the gnocchi will be.) Put the  potatoes through a potato ricer - ricing is important. Let them cool completely.

Beat the egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg together. Mix together potatoes, cheese and about 1 2/3 cup flour and make a well in the center. Pour the egg mixture into the well. Mix together gently with your fingers. This dough is sticky so rub the sticky bits off your hands and back into the dough.  Use the extra flour as needed.  The dough should be light and rollable when its ready.  Don't put in too much flour though as the gnocchi will be heavy dough balls. You will use more flour to roll "snakes"

Dust the dough, your hands, the floor and the work surface lightly with  flour. Cut off a chunk of dough and roll into a long rope, snake, about 1/2" thick and flour (verb) as necessary.. 

(When you first begin making gnocchi, until your hands get the feel of the dough, you may find it easier to cut each piece of dough into smaller more manageable pieces to roll it.)

Slice the ropes into 3/4 " long pieces. 

 You can then press a thumbprint into each or roll down the tines of a fork but I don't bother. Put the cut pieces a baking sheet lined with a floured kitchen towel and continue making gnocchi from the remaining dough.
 At this point  you can boil the gnocchi  (done when they float to the surface of the water) or you can freeze them to cook later.

Alfredo Sauce

2 cups Heavy Cream

1/4 cup Butter

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Boil cream in a hot skillet, add remaining ingredients and stir til cheese is melted.  Add cooked gnocchi - stir til covered.  Pour onto a big plate, sprinkle with more parmesan cheese and chow down!

You can also toss cooked gnocchi into a  pan with some butter, tumble them around and let them brown on each side and add to this pan the following or combinations of the following:

Gnocchi with Stuff Added

3 cups White Beans, cooked or canned

1 cup  Mushrooms sliced 

a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only

3 medium Shallots, diced or sliced

1 grated Garlic Clove

a big handful of Cherry Tomatoes, cut in half 

melted Butter or Olive Oil

splash of Cream 

 grated Parmesan


I think I need to plan a trip to Italy...........



..... to try their gnocchi



http://www.lifeinitaly.com