Potato and Carrot Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 1 lb potatoes of similar size about 5 medium
- 1/2 lb carrots about 2 medium
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Instructions
- Place scrubbed, unpeeled potatoes in a medium pot. Cover with water, add a teaspoon of salt, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer until fork-tender.
- Drain potatoes and place them on a plate on the counter to cool.
- While the potatoes are cooking and cooling, prepare the carrots. Peel them, chop off the ends, and dice into small pieces. Place in a small pot and cook until tender and no longer crunchy. (This is not the time for al dente carrots.)
- Drain carrots and cover with cold water. Once cool, drain in a sieve, shaking to remove excess water. Puree drained carrots in a food processor or with an immersion blender. If you have neither, press them through a sieve with the back of a spoon. Reserve.
- Once potatoes are cool, peel off the skins. Using the large holes in a box grater, grate the potatoes into a medium-sized bowl. (A food mill or a ricer will also work. But not a blender, the potatoes will become gluey.)
- Add the carrots to the potatoes and blend thoroughly with a fork.
- Add the flour, a quarter-cup at a time. (The amount of flour you need will depend on how starchy your potatoes are.) Blend well with a fork before adding the next 1/4 cup.
- Once you’ve added all the flour, turn the dough onto a counter and shape into a disc. If it holds together, pinch off a piece of dough and drop it into a pot of simmering water. It should fall to the bottom of the pot and rise to the surface after about 3 to 4 minutes. If it disintegrates in the water, add flour a tablespoon at a time, and keep testing.
- Once you’re sure the gnocchi will not fall apart in the water, divide the dough into four pieces. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll each piece out into a rope about 1/2-inch thick. Cut each rope into 1/2-inch pieces. To make the classic gnocchi grooves, roll each piece towards you with the tines of a fork.
- Place gnocchi, not touching, on the parchment paper, until ready to cook.
I’ve started a purge of cookbooks I don’t use, and following my pledge to choose one recipe before I let a book go, I’m discovering all kinds of treasures. Like homemade gnocchi!
Mark Bittman makes them (“The Minimalist Cooks Dinner”); Massimo Capra makes them (“One Pot Italian Cooking”), and Charles Part and Jennifer Warren-Part make them (“A Year at Les Fougères”).
Bittman bakes his potatoes first and adds pureed carrot, Capra boils them and adds an egg, two egg yolks and grated cheese, and Part and Warren-Part add Seville oranges, 2 eggs and an egg yolk and rosemary to theirs. They also cut their gnocchi on the bias, which I’m going to try next time.
Today I went with Bittman, using the last of our garden potatoes, and good old Yukon Grain Farm carrots. (Depending on your potatoes, you’ll need to use more or less flour. Ours were very starchy and just needed the amount specified in the recipe, below.)
Now, the trouble is — you saw it coming — I’m falling in love with these cookbooks again, and I’m finding it really hard to say goodbye to them. Help!
Gnocchi with Brown Butter, Sage, and Walnut Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 batch Potato and Carrot Gnocchi
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 20 sage leaves
- Chopped parsley
- Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then reduce heat so that it’s a rolling rather than a vigorous boil.
- Cook the gnocchi in three or four batches, for about 3 to 4 minutes each batch. The gnocchi are done when they float up to the top. Remove each batch with a slotted spoon and transfer to a baking sheet, spreading them out.
- Melt butter in a large frying pan. Add garlic, walnuts and sage leaves. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter smells nutty and starts to brown.
- Add a couple of tablespoons of pasta water and the gnocchi. Gently stir to coat the gnocchi in sauce, adding more water as necessary.
- Ladle into four bowls, sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan, and serve immediately.
