Sunday, March 17, 2013

A Slovak Making Italian Gnocchi?

Cut into tennis-ball size pieces


Roll into 1/2" rope

Cut into 1/2" pieces and roll with finger instead
of down the backside of a fork.
(This makes a small pocket on one side of the gnocchi,
to hold sauce when ready to serve).

Gnocchi

3 large Russet potatoes (about 2 pounds)
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper (you can use white if you don’t want to see it in your gnocchi)
1 large egg
2 cups flour, plus more for rolling and dusting

Boil the potatoes in their skins about 40 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork. Drain and place on a plate until cool enough to handle (approximately 20 minutes). Peel off skin using a paring knife or with you hands(that’s the way I do it). Cut potatoes in half and send them through a ricer. Spread evenly on a baking sheet and let cool to room temperature.

Transfer the potato to a large bowl, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the egg. Stir in the flour. Transfer to a work surface and knead briefly until smooth. (This should only take 5-6 minutes). Place the dough on a well floured cutting board and cover with the bowl to rest for 10 minutes. Cut the dough into a tennis ball size piece and roll that portion of dough into a ½-inch thick rope and sprinkle lightly with flour. (You might feel like a child rolling play dough into snakes). Using a bench knife (or paring knife, that I prefer) cut the rope into ½-inch pieces. Roll 1 side of each piece of dough down the back of a lightly floured fork, pressing the other side lightly with your finger as you roll. Make more gnocchi with the remaining dough in the same manner. As you work, arrange the gnocchi in a single layer on lightly floured baking sheet. Let air dry for up to 2 hours if making the same day. Or arrange the gnocchi in a single layer on a baking pan and place the pan in the freezer for an hour, as I do. Freeze until solid, then bag the frozen gnocchi into re-sealable freezer bags.

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil  Place frozen gnocchi in the pot of boiling water, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until they float to the surface of the water. Immediately drain the gnocchi, cover with sauce and serve.
***Serve the gnocchi tossed with Bev's Spaghetti Sauce and sprinkled with grated cheese.


Enjoy! Élvez! Piacere! Gustirati! Radosť!

No comments: