Gnocchi à la Parisienne
An original recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves 3-4 (enough for 4x 13-16cms/5-6 inch gratin dishes)
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500g/1.1lb packet of potato gnocchi
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250g/1/2lb button or field mushrooms, cut into pieces
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2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
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100g /3.5 ozs. butter divided into two lots of 50g/1.7ozs plus 20g/1.5 tablespoons extra to dot on top (I used truffle butter)
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3 tablespoons plain all purpose flour
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100ml/3.5 flozs. white wine
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2 cups/500ml/17flozs whole milk, warm
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1/2 cup/50g/1.7ozs grated gruyere cheese plus extra for sprinkling on top
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salt and pepper (I used truffle salt)
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Chives or parsley to finish
Step 1 - Boil the gnocchi in plenty of salted water until they float to the top. Preheat the oven to 190C/380F.
Step 2 - Heat the saucepan (I just use the same cast iron pot I used to boil the gnocchi). Melt a tablespoon of butter and then saute the garlic and mushrooms on medium heat. I find it easier to keep adding butter as they cook or they tend to absorb all of the butter at once and start to stick. So add a tablespoon of butter at a time as they cook, there should be enough for 3-4 tablespoons and you will only use half of the total butter for this step. Place in a bowl and set aside.
Step 3 - With the second half of butter (50g/1.7ozs) make a roux sauce by melting the butter in the same saucepan and then add the flour. Using a flat bottomed wooden spoon or spatula move the flour around the avoid any lumps and cook it for 1-2 minutes until it bubbles lightly. Add the white wine and cook this for another 2-3 minutes. Then add milk gradually, in 3-4 parts combining well and stirring it and then adding the cheese. I find this easiest to do with the pot off the heat and once it is all smooth put the pot back on the heat to cook it. Add the gnocchi and mushrooms and stir to coat.
Step 4 - Ladle the mixture into the gratin dishes. Add some extra cheese on top and then top with extra butter (the 20g extra, I used truffle butter). Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Serve with chopped fresh chives or parsley on top.