Anticiplate

I wasn’t kidding around when I said I would not be cooking or blogging for Anticiplate. I was gone for a long time!  My last post  was two weeks ago, and I feel a little guilty. I have been working my tooshy off (not literally-but I wish) already this summer, and learning more about the finer nuances of cooking than I knew possibly could exist. The people I am working with are the most amazing people and Chefs I have ever met. The talent is beyond words. 

If you have been reading Summer Spoon, you know that I have been working at The Restaurant a lot this summer. This is one of the first dishes I learned how to make, and the first dish I got to cook for customers as well. So, there is a small amount of sentimental value to it.

I have made Gnocchi before, but I used a Pate a choux dough from the Thomas Keller Bouchon cookbook, and it was BEYOND labor intensive. Too labor intensive, actually. I got a back spasm, and was out of commission for a couple of hours.

But, everyone has their way of making gnocchi: the type of potato (russet or yukon), the ratio of flour to potato, salt or no salt, egg yolks or the whole egg, cheese or no cheese. Well, I decided to go with this recipe because this is a huge winner at The Restaurant and, quite frankly, it is easy.

The recipe is basic: 1 russet potato, to 1 egg yolk, to 3/4 cups of flour. That is it. Simple right? Well, yesterday I tried to make it, and I must have been having an off day. I put two WHOLE eggs in the recipe, not enough flour, and didn’t season it with salt. The dough would not form in my hands, it was sticky and falling apart. So, I just took my pastry scraper, and pushed the dough into the trash can. Cashew lunged at it on the way down. He got about a cup of it for a mid-afternoon snack. 

What is NOT easy about this recipe is the technique.  Trying to keep a consistent shape while you roll from the gnocchi board is not as easy at it looks. I am not giving myself a hard time just yet, though. This is the type of recipe that takes many practices to perfect. The Chefs at The Restaurant are machines; rolling a gnocchi a second. I took my time today, enjoying what each gnocchi decided to do: Sometimes it would flatten, sometimes the lines would not get pressed all around the little dumpling, and sometimes they would just be too big. All the matters, I guess, is that they taste good.

And they do.

Makes about 100 gnocchi or 10 servings

Prep time: 25 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour for baking gnocchi, and minutes for blanching

Equipment: A ricer, a gnocchi board, a pastry cutter, and a spider

*Adapted from a recipe by Chef M

2 russet potatoes

Olive oil

Kosher salt

2 egg yolks

1 1/2 c. AP flour

Olive oil, to coat g

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Generously oil and season two large russet potatoes and spear them with a fork or a knife. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until softened. Rice the potatoes on the hot tray and let slightly cool, about 3 minutes. On the baking sheet (so that you can use the salt), cut two egg yolks and the flour into potatoes with a pastry cutter until a soft dough forms, you can use your hands at the end.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil.

On a clean surface, dust flour and cut the gnocchi dough into 4 squares. Roll out each square into long tubes about 1 inch thick, using a light touch. Cut 1 inch pieces with a pastry cutter down the roll. (You can stop here, or go on to the next step for extra refinement) Gently roll each piece into a ball.

Using your gnocchi board, roll the balls of gnocchi down the board on an angle to create little lines for the sauce to grab on to. Repeat with the remaining dough.*

Once your water is boiling, season to taste with salt. The water should taste like the sea. Drop 1/4 of the gnocchi in the boiling, salted water, and blanch for about 3 minutes, or until the gnocchi start dancing at the surface. On a pan lined with parchment, scoop out the gnocchi with a spider, and drizzle with olive oil to coat. Repeat.

Let cool on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. When you are ready to use them, saute them in olive oil and add things like pancetta, peas, garlic, red pepper flakes, broth, kale, and lemon juice. Serve immediately. 

*You can also skip the blanching step and freeze the gnocchi ahead of time. Freeze them on a parchment lined baking sheet. Then, once frozen, you can put them into a freezer bag. To cook, just put the frozen gnocchi into the simmering salted water for the next step.