Gnocchi with Gorgonzola
I knew I needed help for my challenge with Pomodori e Vino this week. We are making Gnocchi! ~So I called my chef-to-be son in for support.
We are starting into a new chapter with several kinds of gnocchi… who knew there was more than one kind? The only gnocchi I have ever had were thick and heavy. Marcella says clearly that the essential characteristic of well-made gnocchi is that they be fluffy and light.
I was about to try some well-made gnocchi (hopefully!)
Basically Gnocchi is a little lump of potato and flour. The potato needed for good gnocchi is a ‘boiling’ type. The potatoes are boiled and peeled, then passed through a food mill. The warm smished potatoes are blended with flour until smooth.
The potato dough is then rolled into 1 inch rolls, then these rolls are cut into 3/4 inch pieces.
Now the tricky part~ the pieces of dough are lightly pressed against the prongs of a fork to form indentions.
These indentions are important when the gnocchi is covered with sauce~ I used a flavorful gorgonzola sauce (also in this cookbook).
Potatoes and gorgonzola… (and my son spending the day with me in the kitchen) I’m in heaven!
Ciao y’all,
Sandi
You said it! Heaven!!! I’m savoring the thought of how amazingly delicious these must be!!!!
thank you for your great post!!!
I never cared much for gnocchi until we started using Marcella’s recipe.
It looks wonderful Sandi!
From the photo of the finished dish, Sandi, it looks as though you got the texture of the gnocchi just right. It’s a question of judging the right proportion of flour and potato, too much flour and the gnocchi will be leaden, too much potato and it will be mushy. This is one of the rarest dishes for a restaurant to do well, even in Italy. In a restaurant kitchen they are unlikely to take any risks with the proportion of flour and potato so they make it easy for themselves by adding eggs. It makes serviceable gnocchi, but it lacks the heavenly fluffiness that makes it one of the irresistible achievements of the home kitchen. Your choice of gorgonzola for the sauce is excellent, and other ideal sauces for potato gnocchi are pesto and my tomato, butter, and onion sauce. Another great job for a talented Southern cook!
Looking good Sandi! Now if only I had an in-house chef to assist with the making of these wonderful sounding gnocchi. Pairing them with gorgonzola sauce was a great plan.