Key Product: Composite Potato Ricer
Serves 4-6 as a side dish and 2-3 as a main course, prep time 1 1/2 hours (includes1 hour for baking the potatoes), cooking time 30 minutes
Creating beautiful pillow-like gnocchi is all about the correct tools and products. Using the right potatoes and flour is important to ensure you do not end up with a heavy gnocchi. Always use a good baking potato that turns light and dry when cooking. Equally important is using a potato ricer to mash the potatoes to ensure the potatoes are smooth and fluffy before making the dough.
Ingredients:
Gnocchi:
- 2 large Russet potatoes
- 1 cup of semolina flour
- 1 head of garlic
- Drizzle of olive oil
- Pinch of pepper
- 1/2 tsp sea salt plus 2 tbsp
- 1/2 an egg beaten
Sauce:
- 3 tbsp of butter
- 2 medium sized shallots diced
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1/2 cup of dry Riesling
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3/4 cup of 2% milk
- Pinch of sea salt
- 2 tbsp fresh chopped basil
- Parmesan cheese
Heat the oven to 360 degrees.
Cut across the entire head of garlic so that all the tips are cut off, and place the garlic in the center of a six inch square piece of tin foil. Drizzle with olive oil, a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Fold the foil over top of the garlic to make a pouch.
Poke three sets of holes in each potato with a fork. Place the potatoes and garlic in the oven.
Remove the garlic after about 30 minutes and open the tin foil package to allow the garlic to cool.
Once the garlic has cooled, squeeze the soft cloves of garlic into a small bowl.
After one hour, check the potatoes with a fork to see if they are done. Continue cooking the potatoes until the insides are completely soft.
Using an oven mitt to hold the hot potato carefully cut the potato in half and scoop out the insides. Discard the potato skins and place the potato directly into a potato ricer with the roasted garlic.
Squeeze the potato and garlic through the ricer onto a clean surface. Spread the mixture out evenly into a thin layer allowing it to cool and also release some more moisture.
Once the potato mixture has cooled, add the egg and sprinkle evenly with the sea salt and about 3/4 of the flour. Mix the dough only enough to ensure it is consistent throughout. Form the dough into a ball, adding more flour if necessary. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Over mixing will make the gnocchi thick and heavy.
Split the dough into six even pieces. With your hands roll the first piece of dough into a cylinder shape about the diameter of your thumb. With a straight edge, cut the pieces of gnocchi about 3/4 of an inch to one inch pieces. Continue with this step until all six pieces are complete.
With the back of a fork, gently press each piece of gnocchi to create small ridges. This helps to sop up the sauce when eating.
Heat a large pot of water, with two tbsp of salt, to a rolling boil. Add the gnocchi and give a little stir to ensure that they do not stick together. When the pieces of gnocchi are ready, they will float to the surface. With a slotted spoon, remove the gnocchi and place in a colander until the sauce is ready.
To make the sauce, heat a large saucepan to medium-high heat. Add one tbsp of the butter, the sea salt and the shallots. Cook the shallots for about three minutes stirring frequently, and add the garlic. Continue cooking for another minute.
Add the wine and cook over high heat until almost all the liquid is evaporated.
Stir in the tomato paste until evenly incorporated.
Add the milk and bring the sauce to a boil while stirring.
Turn off the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tbsp of butter.
Add the gnocchi and basil to your serving bowl. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve into the bowl, removing the pieces shallot and garlic. Sprinkle with some freshly grated parmesan and enjoy!