Gnocchi di Patate

What a terrific little thing is fresh gnocchi!
Somewhere in my travels I heard that "Wednesday is Gnocchi Day". I think they are fantastic any day of any week. Orvieto or Lake Como maybe.
And they freeze well too so you can make a batch for now and enough for later.


Ingredients

• 4 medium sized Potatoes - either Kennebeck or Pontiacs work fine
• Plain flour - 200grams to start, but you'll definitely need more
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg

For the potatoes a ricer is good or you can coarsely mash them, but don't make a paste.
You'll need something to make the ridges on the outside of the gnocchi - one of those butter molds, or gnocchi paddle or even the back of a long-prong fork is fine.
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Method
Boil the potatoes in their skins for 15-20 minutes, then while they are still hot [but cool enough to handle] peel them. Pass them through a ricer, or coarsely mash them.

Make a well in the initial batch of flour, and break the egg into it, add the pinch of salt.
Combine the ingredients - use your hands or a spoon, but don't overwork the dough.
It needs to be combined and not too wet to the feel - keep adding flour until you have a nice combined ball of dough.
Let it rest for 10 mins.

Then, break the dough into more manageable pieces and roll a piece of he dough into a 1.5cm diameter sausage. cut the sausage into 1cm chunks. With more flour on your work surface, rub the pieces between your floured hands into little balls about 1.5cm - 2cm in diameter.

You'll get a feel here of how dry the dough is - you dont want it to stick to your hands, or the moulding device [in the next step]. Again dont overwork it - add the flour to your hands while rolling.

Once you have a little collection of dough balls, the fun starts!
Take a ball, and with your thumb, run the ball along the back of the fork to form the ridges. Set that piece aside, on a floured piece of kitchen paper or tea towel.

If they're sticking to your thumb or the ridging tool, they are too wet - use more flour!
Repeat until you use up the set of dough balls.
Then repeat the process of making the dough balls and rolling them out.

Cooking
Have your sauce ready - I like simple Tomato and Basil with garlic. But you could try Pesto [basil, pinenuts], Alfredo [cream, parmesan, parsley] or Bolognese [beef, tomato]. I think Bolognese is too heavy. Get creative!
So
In plenty of boiling salted water add a handful of gnocchi or so. Maybe just enough for two people at a time. Dont overcrowd the water. They cook very quickly and you dont want them to overcook - they can go tough or break up! They are ready when they rise to the surface of the water - scoop them out with a slotted spoon. Repeat for more batches.

Place into individual plates with your sauce, herbs and cheese. Beautiful!



EAT!!

Storage
Gnocchi can be stored between sheets of floured kitchen paper. Don't crowd them or they'll squash together.

Photos by TokMonsta

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More gnocchi from 2014 below

La fiesta española

I heard that one could buy Pimientos de Padrón from the sole Australian grower, in Maleny QLD. Having experienced the pimienty goodness in España how could I hold back?
I contacted the grower in Queensland, not knowing when the season was on, and it was about to start! Runs from November to May.
I ordered a kilo and they arrived as if whisked here on the back of a Spanish stallion! They came in a box inside a postbag, simple. Great service from the grower and Australia Post!
Link to the grower. Thanx Richard!

The Pimientos


So, I just had to cook them.
In a liberal amount of hot olive oil in my trusty iron frying pan (as they might do in Spain) until the skin was blistered. Take them out and drain on absorbent paper. Then sea salt.
Oh my god. Spectacular!

Just add salt

Of course that was not all we had - a friend was coming over so I whipped up a quick tortilla (frittata) with potato and beans, had some tomatoey beans handy as well, and a chorizo.

Beautiful! Most are sweet but there's a spicy one every now and then!

So clockwise from bottom left we have tortilla/fritatta with potato and beans, some olives, octopus, tomato and green/haricot/french beans, and paprika paste, chorizo on the plate and a tomato, cucumber and spring onion salad. Centre - the pimientos

Recipes
Pimientos de Padrón
Pick off any old leaves, wash and dry the peppers.
Heat olive oil in a frypan, to below smoking point - not too hot, but the peppers should sizzle as soon as they hit the oil.
Fry until the peppers are blistered - careful, they will pop and splutter, keep them moving but be careful not to get burnt! They are cooked in about 2 or 3 mins.
Remove from the frypan onto the absorbent kitchen paper.
Sea salt to taste [quite salty suits them]
Eat them with gusto!
Padrón is a region in northwestern Spain [wikipedia]

Tortilla, otherwise known as frittata
You could include, potatoes, asparagus, tomatoes, onions, zucchini [courgettes], eggplant, anything.
For three people use 6 eggs. I used potatoes and beans. Prepare other ingredients as required before assembly.
Slice [0.5 cm] two potatoes and boil until they are almost cooked - 5 mins. Parboil the beans separately.
Break the eggs into a bowl, break the yolks but don't mix them two much, for the marbled effect.
Fry a clove of garlic crushed and a small onion in olive oil in a frypan. I use a small one so the tortilla is quite deep - thick.
Once the onions and garlic are underway, add the beans and potato in layers, then pour in the eggs.
Cook on low heat until the eggs are almost cooked then finish them under the griller, medium. Don't want to overcook them!
Season with salt and pepper, serve with the paprika paste.
Delicious hot, warm or cold.

Beans and tomato
Top and tail two handfuls of green beans, wash and cut to 3 cm lengths.
In a saucepan bring a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to medium temperature.
Fry two cloves of garlic, but don't burn it.
Pour in a can of peeled tomatoes - clean out the can with a few tablespoons of water.
With a wooden spoon break open the tomatoes [in the saucepan] so the seeds and guts come out - the tomatoes will break down and cook quicker.
Bring to the boil but then turn it down to a slow simmer for 30 mins. Don't let it stick, stir occasionally. Add the beans and cook for 10minutes, don't overcook them.
Season with salt, pepper and a little sugar, to taste. Garnish with parsley from your garden, where else?!
Serve hot or cold.