I tried to get into my house the other day, but I couldn’t. Wanna know why?
Because I had gnocchi!
notes
- It is important to bake the potatoes, otherwise you won’t get the drippings to make the sweet potato butter.
- Don’t over knead the dough. Gnocchi are fluffy pillows, not hard dumplings, work the dough just enough so it can hold the shape.
Sage and Rosemary Mushrooms
eight to ten cremini mushrooms, sliced
one-and-a-half tablespoons of fresh sage, rough chopped
three whole sprigs of rosemary
three cloves of garlic, minced
four tablespoons of olive oil
In a pan, bring oil to medium heat and add minced garlic. The garlic should simmer slightly, but not fry. Add rosemary and sage to simmer in oil for about five minutes. Add mushrooms and stir. Let the mushrooms to simmer while you make the dough. Check on them occasionally so they don’t over cook but the heat should be low enough, so don’t worry too much.
The final result of these mushrooms should be slightly browned, and soft but still holding a bite to them. The garlic should have the color and consistency of cooled caramel, chewy yet hard. Take the bits of garlic along with the mushrooms and toss them with the gnocchi, the rest of the pan can be tossed.
browned butter
three tablespoons of unsalted butter
sweet potato drippings (optional)
one tablespoon of poppy seeds (optional)
Bring a smaller pan to medium heat. Add butter. If adding drippings, add now as well. Swirl butter around for about four to five minutes. You will see little brown specs start to form on the bottom of the pan. That’s a good sign. Keep swirling until the butter is a medium brown color. Remove the pan from heat and keep swirling for another thirty seconds. Pour butter into a small bowl and wait to drizzle over pasta. If you are adding poppy seeds, this is when you would add them. They add texture to the dish, I recommend it.
pasta dough
Makes 30-35 Gnocchi
two sweet potatoes, about one pound
three-fourths cup of ricotta cheese
one-fourth cup of parmesan cheese
three-fourths cup of unbleached, all purpose flour
one teaspoon of ground cloves
one-and-a-half teaspoons of nutmeg
two teaspoons of black pepper
two teaspoons of salt
Preheat the oven to three-hundred-and-eighty degrees.
Place a baking sheet lined with parchment paper on the second highest oven rack.
Poke each potato a few times with a fork and place them on the highest oven rack for about forty-five minutes.
Periodically check the lined baking sheet for liquid coming out of the sweet potatoes, if there at least a teaspoon or two, pull the sheet and scoop the ooze into a bowl. Place the sheet back in the oven. Continue doing this until the potatoes are ready.
Once the potatoes are fully cooked, you can tell by how easily a knife goes through them, remove them from the oven. Slice them in half and scoop out the insides into a bowl. Using a masher or a whisk, mash the potatoes until smooth.
In the same bowl add the rest of the ingredients except the flour. Mix together until well combined. Add the flour, mix together until a dough starts to form. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead until a structured dough is formed but is still soft and airy.
Allow the dough to rest for ten minutes.
Bring a pasta water to a boil, salt well.
Cut the dough ball into fourths. Gently roll each fourth out into a tube. Using a bench or a knife cut off about half an inch and throw in in the boiling water for three minutes. If it holds shape firmly yet is still fluffy when bitten, the dough is ready. If not, knead each tube for another minute.
Once the dough is ready, batch cook the gnocchi, eight to ten in the pot at a time, for three minutes each batch. Drain and plate.
Top with mushrooms and . drizzle browned butter, and maybe sprinkle a little parmesan, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Sorry I haven’t posted in a few weeks. New job, lots of homework, other excuses that sound better than I screwed up the last post I made, ya know, stuff.
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