Local food: gnocchi
Tonight, for the first time, I made gnocchi from scratch. I used a recipe from today's Christchurch Press, by Maxine Clark. Although gnocchi has always seemed exotic and probably difficult to make to me, I used (following the recipe to the letter) home grown potatoes, egg and sage. I used New Zealand grown flour, cheese and butter.
It turned out pretty well.
Cook 600g floury potatoes in boiling water for 20-30 minutes, until very tender. Drain well. Mash the potatoes, add 1 teaspoon salt and 200g flour. Make a well in the centre and crack in an egg. Mix together, knead lightly to yield a soft, slightly sticky dough. Roll into long sausages, 1.5cm in diameter. Cut into 2cm pieces. Lay on lightly floured tea towel.
Bring big pot of salted water to the boil. Cook the gnocchi in batches. Drop into the boiling water for 2-3 minutes or until they float to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep hot while you cook the rest. Mix 200g melted butter with 2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the butter mixture over the gnocchi and sprinkle over 50g parmesan.
The sage worked well and I'm pleased about that as I almost never cook from my little plant near the back door. Time to try a few more sage recipes perhaps. We used cheddar cheese as I was out of parmesan. Still good.
So now I might have a go at Annabel Langbein's recipe for nettle or spinach gnocchi. It looks to be a more varied dish (I don't do multi-course dinners for family tea. I scarcely do multi pot dinners for family tea). As well as the green stuff in the gnocchi, she serves it with a tomato sauce. But hers calls for ricotta, which is a pricey ingredient, pulling things into the realm of special food. Maybe it would work with cottage cheese.
But anyway, fancy food from local ingredients, which turns out not to be so very difficult to cook. I would be faster next time. It is one of those dishes which look quick and might well be with practise, but probably wouldn't survive the need to drop all cooking and growl at children or inspect bike wounds... Same reason I don't bother with stir fry if I'm the only adult at home during cooking time.
It turned out pretty well.
Cook 600g floury potatoes in boiling water for 20-30 minutes, until very tender. Drain well. Mash the potatoes, add 1 teaspoon salt and 200g flour. Make a well in the centre and crack in an egg. Mix together, knead lightly to yield a soft, slightly sticky dough. Roll into long sausages, 1.5cm in diameter. Cut into 2cm pieces. Lay on lightly floured tea towel.
Bring big pot of salted water to the boil. Cook the gnocchi in batches. Drop into the boiling water for 2-3 minutes or until they float to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep hot while you cook the rest. Mix 200g melted butter with 2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the butter mixture over the gnocchi and sprinkle over 50g parmesan.
The sage worked well and I'm pleased about that as I almost never cook from my little plant near the back door. Time to try a few more sage recipes perhaps. We used cheddar cheese as I was out of parmesan. Still good.
So now I might have a go at Annabel Langbein's recipe for nettle or spinach gnocchi. It looks to be a more varied dish (I don't do multi-course dinners for family tea. I scarcely do multi pot dinners for family tea). As well as the green stuff in the gnocchi, she serves it with a tomato sauce. But hers calls for ricotta, which is a pricey ingredient, pulling things into the realm of special food. Maybe it would work with cottage cheese.
But anyway, fancy food from local ingredients, which turns out not to be so very difficult to cook. I would be faster next time. It is one of those dishes which look quick and might well be with practise, but probably wouldn't survive the need to drop all cooking and growl at children or inspect bike wounds... Same reason I don't bother with stir fry if I'm the only adult at home during cooking time.
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