Gnocchi
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves 4
For gnocchi
- 700g/25ozs starchy or mashing potatoes (Desiree, Carisma)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 200g/7ozs cake flour
- 1 small egg, beaten
For Browned Butter Sauce
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 120g/4ozs salted butter + 1 tablespoon
- 25 sage leaves, washed and pat dry
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
- Grated parmigiano or pecorino cheese
Step 1 - Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Place into a pot of cold water. Add salt and cover and bring to a boil. Cook for 20 minutes or until very soft and the sides are banged up and a knife can easily slip in. Drain. Take a potato ricer and push the potatoes through. They should go through easily as they are so soft. Spread out and allow to cool completely.
Step 2 - Measure the cake flour and have a small bowl of semolina flour ready. Place a pot of water onto boil and line a large tray with double paper towels. Add the beaten egg into the cold potato and knead it in. Then knead in all of the cake flour. Knead to form a ball of dough but do not overwork. It will still has small ridges on it and won't be smooth like a bread dough. Cut into quarters. Roll out one quarter into a log around 3/4 inch thick. Slice the log into little squares or rectangles. Place into the boiling water and when they float to the surface after a minute or so, remove using a slotted spoon and place in a single layer on the paper towels. Repeat with the remaining gnocchi dough. At this point you can stop and continue later on in the day to pan fry it if you have people over. Just make sure to cover the gnocchi.
Step 3 - Once the gnocchi has been boiled, place a large frying pan on medium heat. Add the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter and pan fry the gnocchi in batches. You want to try and get the gnocchi browned on all sides. Scoop into a bowl or back on a tray once done. Once all of the gnocchi has been pan fried, add the remaining butter to the pan. When it has melted, add the sage leaves and garlic allow the butter to bubble and foam and the sage leaves to crisp up. Add the gnocchi and spoon the butter over the gnocchi. Spoon onto serving plates with some of the browned butter. Grate cheese over the top and serve.