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Fblog Session 5: Gnocchi with Pesto
Imagine that you are a bird. You are flying in the air, free as can be, when you spot a delicious morsel of bread sitting on a table inside a building, just waiting for you to snatch it up. You veer to the left and begin your smooth descent towards that bread. And just when it is two feet away, WHAM! You smash into an invisible wall and die a horrible death.
Anyways, that was an accurate metaphor for my first experience trying to learning Italian cuisine. I keep hearing Italian chefs talk about focusing on "simplicity" and "keeping things simple". But as soon as you try out that "simple" recipe with the 5 ingredients it kicks you right in the balls and your own creation turns out nothing like it's supposed to be. Both gnocchi and pesto are simple recipes with a short list of ingredients, yet if you wish to make them well, the procedures are thoroughly nuanced and difficult to master.
Ingredients
Most people try to spend as little time as possible cooking as much as possible. I spend as much time as possible cooking as little as possible, then microwave up a frozen pizza later to make up for the deficit. Something is wrong here.
Prep + Wait time: 2-3 hours
Gnocchi recipe by Thomas Keller. Basil recipe from here.
Basil Pesto:
1 1/2 - 2 cups fresh basil leaves, loosely packed 3 cloves garlic 1/4 cup pine nuts 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, loosely packed ~1 cup olive oil
Gnocchi:
2 lb russet potatoes (roughly 3.5 medium potatoes)* 1 tbsp salt 1 + 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3 egg yolks
*Russets are recommended by most recipes. They are the cheapest brown potatoes in American supermarkets. Yukon gold is an acceptable substitute.
A dough scraper is highly recommended for making gnocchi.
Cooking
Pre-heat your oven to 350F (175C). Pop your potatoes in for 1-2 hours, depending on size (2 hours for large, 1 hour for medium). Flip them every half-hour until thoroughly cooked. Crack 3 eggs and separate out the yolks. Leave the yolks outside to warm at room temperature. Meanwhile, make basil pesto.
We're in for some chop.
We are going to hand chop the basil pesto. Apparently it's supposed to turn out with a better texture or whatever, but here is my personal reasoning about the process. Ideally, a sharp knife is sharper than a food processor's blade, and will bruise the herb leaves less as it slices through the basil. Italians have a special moon-shaped knife called the mezzaluna that allows you to easily slice through herbs with minimal bruisage. While you can replicate this process with a regular knife by rocking the knife through the herbs instead of chopping straight down, the process becomes extremely time consuming. Ultimately, bruising will occur and the basil itself will not be hugely improved from what comes out of a food processor.
This is, coincidentally, also how the Amish make pesto.
In any case, ri0nse and pat dry your basil, and pick the leaves from the stems. Pile your ingredients into neat piles where you can access them easily. Start by chopping a third of your basil along with your garlic. When this is a fine mince, add a third of your pine nuts and continue chopping. Then, at approximate three minute intervals, add a third of your shaved parmesan, a third of the basil, another third of the pine nuts, then cheese, then basil, then the last of your pine nuts, and the last of the parmesan. Chop until you have a very fine mince on the last batch of pine nuts and parmesan cheese.
If you add urine it becomes pissto, a unique beverage favored by Bear Grylls.
Add olive oil and mix. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Go play outside until the potatoes are done. When the potatoes are cooked, take them out of the oven. While hot, cut them in half and scoop out the insides onto a clean work surface. Ideally you want at least 4 square feet of work surface, or about 0.66 square meters. Mash the potatoes until they are lumpless, using a potato ricer if available. Make a ring with the hot potatoes and a well in the middle. Sprinkle half a cup of flour into the well. Dump onto the flour (NOT onto the hot potatoes! they will cook the yolks instantly) the three yolks, then the second half cup of flour on top of the yolks. Now, working as fast as possible, mix everything together into a homogenous mass. If you do it fast enough the dough will not be too sticky to work with, If it is very sticky, sprinkle flour around.
If you balk at the idea of using so many yolks, some recipes recommend using whole eggs. Try one and a half eggs as a substitute. Some people just can't take a yolk.
Divide your dough into fourths. Sprinkle flour onto your work surface and prepare a sheet pan, either dusted with flour or lined with parchment paper. Roll a fourth of dough out into a long roll close to an inch thick, or about 2 cm. Use your dough scraper to divide the roll into sections of dough about 3/4 of an inch or 2 cm in length.
I'll show you a real tunnel snake.
Now to shape the gnocchi. I didn't quite understand how to shape them while I made these gnocchi, but here is the proper way to shape them with a fork: Press the section of dough gently into the fork to flatten the gnocchi while creating an indentation on the reverse side, then roll the gnocchi into a roll shape with the indentation on the outside. They should look like tiny rolls with ridges on the outside.
Yeah thanks Youtube you were a real fucking help. I've been doing it wrong all this time. I AM A FAILURE!!! *Runs off a cliff*
Anyways, you are ready to cook! Bring a big pot of water to a boil, generously adding a large amount of salt and oil (1/3 of a cup of each per gallon of water or so). Place 2 tablespoons of butter into a non-stick pan, but do not turn on the heat yet. When the water comes to a boil, add the gnocchi to the water and turn on the heat to your pan at the same time. The gnocchi will take about 2 minutes to cook. When they float to the surface, wait 20 seconds and they are done. The butter in your pan should be nice and hot by then. Scoop the gnocchi out of the pot of water and into your pan. Saute, letting the gnocchi get nice and brown.
You can just serve after boiling, but this is just because Italians really aren't getting enough grease in their diet.
When the gnocchi is nicely browned spoon some pesto onto them and mix together. Serve immediately.
The Result
Yeah motherfucker. Someone eating this might think you spent a summer vacationing in Italy or learning from an Italian grandmother, but only YOU know the truth. You sat on your ass and read this blog, like an unsung hero would.
People have described gnocchi as "light, fluffy pillows", but that's really too flattering. They're kind of like... potato-y dumplings. Still, when fried up they are quite nice. Crispy on the outside, with a fluffy potato texture on the inside. The pesto adds a nice touch of aromatic flavor that brings it all together. Not the best dish ever, but certainly something nice to have tried and said that you have tried. Veni, vidi, vici.
Conclusion
That's the end of this entry, the fifth of the third "season" of food blogs on TL. If you like this sort of shit, you can check out more of it on my main food blog,
http://foodinmind.wordpress.com
As always questions, comments, and criticisms are welcome. Until next time, remember that the simple things in cooking are oftentimes the most difficult. That sucks.
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Nice blog, I am definitely going to make gnocchi soon!
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Hmm nice once, homemade gnocchis are super good, and the procedure is well explained. I got grilled duck breasts planned for Saturday night, but nothing for Sunday lunch, hehe. Finding good basil is real p.i.t.a in Shanghai though
Also you're taking much nicer pictures than before.
5/5 !
edit : how big were the gnocchis ? I like them very firm, so if I'm going to fry them after boiling, I don't boil them for more than a minute (I take them out as soon as they come to the surface). I so want to eat gnocchis now, congrats. I'm gonna spend my whole week-end making gnocchis, I'll try to freeze the surplus to see how it goes.
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why would you fry the gnocci after boiling?
THAT IS HERESY
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Coming from an italian: good choice about the pesto, proportions look well done. You even added pinoles, that's the sign of a smart cook!
And that's the reason why I'm astonished by your choice of frying the gnocchi. Despite you already noticing... are you really sure you want to fry those?! Ugh... Judging from the rest of your post, you are way better than that. Stop it, Newbistic. Go immediately back on tracks.
(btw, even if I don't know if there's an official rule about gnocchi's variants but have you ever tried it with minced meat, tomatoes and a bit of ricotta? If not, let yourself free.)
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Is frying gnocchis after boiling them that bad ? I to do it most of the time and I love it. The exception is when I eat gnocchis with a cream based or cheese based sauce, in that case I don't fry them.
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During my first year of university life, I was eating in a university restaurant where - and I kid you not - they didn't roast the gnocchis, they boiled it ... in water. It tasted awful ... I am forever scarred.
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Is frying gnocchis after boiling them that bad ? I to do it most of the time and I love it.
if you dont fry them , they take on the sauce/pesto much better. and in my oppinion you get a more potatoee-flavour (the grease flavour just overshadows everything after frying)
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dont believe that i have ever had them fried but it certainly looks good. i approve of homemade gnocchi
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On March 28 2013 20:49 Irratonalys wrote:Show nested quote +Is frying gnocchis after boiling them that bad ? I to do it most of the time and I love it. if you dont fry them , they take on the sauce/pesto much better. and in my oppinion you get a more potatoee-flavour (the grease flavour just overshadows everything after frying) That is much more of an opinion than fact . I'm hard pressed to agree that boiling only is a tradition when I've seen italian gnocchi be fried and baked after boiling to take away the raw-potatoe flavor.
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On March 28 2013 19:29 Irratonalys wrote: why would you fry the gnocci after boiling?
THAT IS HERESY I've seen fried gnocci several times in my life!
And I WILL make this this week or next week, seems delicious. I absolutely LOVE pesto but I didn't have any recipee myself.
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On March 28 2013 18:56 endy wrote:Hmm nice once, homemade gnocchis are super good, and the procedure is well explained. I got grilled duck breasts planned for Saturday night, but nothing for Sunday lunch, hehe. Finding good basil is real p.i.t.a in Shanghai though Also you're taking much nicer pictures than before. 5/5 ! edit : how big were the gnocchis ? I like them very firm, so if I'm going to fry them after boiling, I don't boil them for more than a minute (I take them out as soon as they come to the surface). I so want to eat gnocchis now, congrats. I'm gonna spend my whole week-end making gnocchis, I'll try to freeze the surplus to see how it goes.
They are about 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm x 2 cm in size, a bit small compared to ones I've seen on Youtube I think. These gnocchi aren't very firm, most likely due to the high potato content. I think (never tried) that firmer gnocchi depends on a higher flour content, like 2 or more cups of flour instead of one.
On March 28 2013 20:02 MavivaM wrote: Coming from an italian: good choice about the pesto, proportions look well done. You even added pinoles, that's the sign of a smart cook!
And that's the reason why I'm astonished by your choice of frying the gnocchi. Despite you already noticing... are you really sure you want to fry those?! Ugh... Judging from the rest of your post, you are way better than that. Stop it, Newbistic. Go immediately back on tracks.
(btw, even if I don't know if there's an official rule about gnocchi's variants but have you ever tried it with minced meat, tomatoes and a bit of ricotta? If not, let yourself free.)
No, I haven't tried anything with gnocchi yet except this pesto. Feel free to recommend ideas to me though. I will try them simply boiled as you recommended, although IMHO they seemed to taste better fried to my Americanized palate (sorry).
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gnocchi and pesto are both effing delicious. Together I can only imagine how amazing.
The guy above me said something about frying gnocchi being an odd choice, and I have to agree. Generally what I've seen is gnocchi boiled, then cooked for a minute or two with whatever sauce you want to use. That way the flavors of your sauce sort of infuse your gnocchi, creating tender little flavor bombs.
I'd like to see a little more of a demonstration on the shaping method, because it was very apparent in your explanation exactly what you're doing. Maybe I'm just simple but it felt a little vague and confusing.
Also, if anyone likes that pesto, try toasting the pine nuts a bit first, really adds some nice flavor to the pesto and I think a little bit of salt too helps liven it up.
I'd really like to see someone do a gnocchi with vodka sauce. I had that at some restaurant that I can't really remember a while back and it was the most delicious instance of pasta of any kind that I have ever eaten.
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damn that looks good now im hungry
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Very good. I can see a lot of room for improvement but not bad for a non italian.
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On March 29 2013 02:40 aTnClouD wrote: Very good. I can see a lot of room for improvement but not bad for a non italian.
i dont care how it looks i wanna taste :'(
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ow no, dont fry em! that's a nono with gnochi i think
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I've never had fried gnocchi. Sounds really good actually.
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Wow that looks delicious, love gnocchi!
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Oh my god that looks so fucking good. I don't give a crap if you're not supposed to fry them after boiling, if they turn out anything like what's in that picture...
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never knew people fried those,great blog!
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Katowice25012 Posts
I'm tempted to try this, I had a girlfriend years ago that loved gnocchi but I haven't had it since.
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god damn that looks unbelievably tasty. I love my gnocci fried as well.
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TLADT24917 Posts
wow, looking great! Gonna try it this weekend :D Thanks!
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after this, I'm going to try fried ravioli
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On March 29 2013 18:52 EpiK wrote: after this, I'm going to try fried ravioli You guys should go visit Scotland.
The west coast in particular is notorious for the amount of deep-fried food consumed, and for being the home of such dishes as the deep-fried pizza and deep fried Mars bar. Deep fried döner kebabs have also become notorious in Glasgow. An extreme example of this style of food is the Munchy box.
Deep fried Mars bar (NSFL)
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Norway25710 Posts
Gnocchi is delicious, but I seem to fail every other time I try my hand at them T_T
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Nice work. Looks really tasty; definitely a fan of frying (I always fry perogies).
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On March 30 2013 19:25 KristofferAG wrote: Gnocchi is delicious, but I seem to fail every other time I try my hand at them T_T
They are indeed quite challenging to make. There are a lot of little details where you can go wrong
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United States10328 Posts
The pesto seems like something worth trying. I'm afraid I'd fuck up the gnocchi horribly if I tried though
... wait, I did recently get a lot of potatoes...
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