A While in the Making

I took a blogging break. I thought I had writers block. Turned out to be a stoppage caused by solidified butter. All that rich food, you see.

A while ago I promised you gnocchi. To deliver I need not only your patience, but the grace of the culinary gods whom decide the fate of soufflés and risen breads and pastries and whatnot. And you’ll need heavenly blessings too, for that matter. And practice. A shitload of practice.

These spud dumplings, when executed properly, are like little clouds, melting away as you bite them, dissolving into roast potato vapours, yielding under tongue-pressure to release that bit of sauce which clings to each little fork-groove. In contrast, the gnocchi you can buy vac-packed at the grocery store bear more of a resemblance to, say, rubber bullets, and have in fact been used by the L.A. SWAT team in a pinch. Sadly, restaurants often don’t do much better, serving up plates of soggy, sticky, dense, gluey potato, lost under mounds of sauce and cheese.

How then, you ask me, how can I possibly achieve perfect gnocchi at home? I’ll tell you. First, some general rules:

- Work fast. As fast as you can. The Secret (capital S) to fluffy gnocchi is that when you blanch the last batch of them, your potato dough should still be warm. This only happens if you work quickly.

- Try not to over work the potatoes. The more you stir them, mash them, the stickier they become. Sticky potatoes make sticky gnocchi.

- Don’t be afraid to make a mess; you are going to toss flour and potato and water all over your kitchen. And don’t bother cleaning up as you go along. Remember, speed is key here. Have a glass of wine when you finish and then try to con someone else into cleaning up after you (Isn’t cooking for you enough? I have to clean as well?)

- Forget the fine details. O.K. they aren’t all the same size and shape. A couple gnocchi stuck together, no problem. These sorts of things shouldn’t look perfect, they are hand made.



Potato Gnocchi

1 large baking potato per person, pricked with a knife or fork
rock salt
eggs
plain flour
fine grated parmesan cheese
sea salt flakes
ice

Heat oven to 220ºC (425ºF). Pour rock salt onto a baking tray and place potatoes on top. The salt will help to draw moisture out of the potatoes as well as ensure that they roast evenly. Cook potatoes for about 1 hour, flipping the potatoes over after half an hour. When a knife or skewer pierces through the centre of a potato with little or no resistance, they are done. When the potatoes are nearly ready, place a large stockpot full of heavily salted water on the stove to boil.

Working quickly slit open the potatoes and, holding them in a towel so that you don’t burn yourself, scrape the flesh out into a bowl using a spoon. Discard the skin. Save the salt to use the next time you roast potatoes. Pass the flesh through a fine sieve using a scraper or push through a moulie or ricer. Work the potatoes as little as possible.

Weigh the passed potato. For every 500g of flesh you will need 3 egg yolks, approximately 50g flour, and 25g parmesan.

Using these ratios, mix your gnocchi dough in a large bowl, adding a generous pinch of salt. Work first with a spoon and then use your hands. The dough should be very soft and slightly sticky. Listen, I keep telling you not to work the potato much, but now I’m going to tell you the opposite. Knead the dough a few times in the bowl. You need to do this both to ensure that the dough is mixed properly and that the flour forms some gluten strands, which will help our feathery gnocchi hold their shape. The dough should now be soft but just firm enough to hold its shape. Add more flour while you are kneading if necessary.

Prepare an ice bath. Fill a large bucket or bowl with ice and top up with water. You will shock the gnocchi in this bath to prevent them from over cooking.

Working in small batches, roll the dough out until it is a 2cm or 3cm ‘snake.’ Using a spatula or cutter, cut into 3cm lengths. At this point you can gently roll the gnocchi into balls between your palms and then roll each one up the tines of a fork to create the classic gnocchi shape. I often don’t bother as I rather like the squarish look that comes from cooking them without shaping.

Right, got that? Now see if you can keep up. Thanks to Will for the video.



Transfer the gnocchi to the back of a floured baking tray and slide them into the boiling water. When the gnocchi rise to the top (about 20 seconds) set a timer for 1 minuet 30 seconds. When the timer goes off, remove the gnocchi using a slotted spoon or something similar and transfer to the ice bath. Continue rolling, blanching, and shocking, until all the dough is gone. Remove the gnocchi from the ice bath, let drain. Sprinkle with olive oil to prevent sticking and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve you can either blanch briefly in a boiling pot of water or do as I love to and sauté the gnocchi. This adds another texture to the airy dumpling – a crisp, roasty shell. To do so, heat a pan on medium high heat. Add olive oil and then the gnocchi. Make sure your pan is hot as the gnocchi will stick otherwise, and remember not to try to cook too many at once; over crowding a pan will only make the temperature drop and all your gnocchi will stick. When the gnocchi have browned on one side, add a knob of butter, reduce the heat a bit, and flip, cooking until the gnocchi are evenly browned in the foaming butter. Remove from pan, draining away butter.

Serve with some kind of tasty sauce, but not too much of it. These little guys should be the main event.