Gnocchi Gnight!

My fantastically rad childhood friend Jimmy has saved me from the boredom of many a high school class, we almost took flight in a little old convertible, he taught me how to ski (sort of), and now he has instructed me in the art of making gnocchi from scratch!
I love this man-boy and his trusty dog Holmes!

What you need:

A bag of potatoes (3lbs - 5lbs)
A potato ricer (looks like a big garlic press)
4-6 Eggs (we used 2 each)
Flour
Nutmeg (optional)
A knife
A fork
A bowl
A pot for boiling water
A sieve or slotted spoon
Pasta sauce

and plenty of time, 3-4hrs.

Step #1

Boil peeled potatoes.

Step #2

Half potatoes and press through the potato ricer.  They can get clogged pretty easily, but no biggie.

Step #3

Form a potato ball.

I sprinkled in some nutmeg.
It turns out it wasn't enough to notice so be generous with it if that's the flavor you are going for.

Step #4

Make a "nest" for an egg.

Step #5

Sprinkle with flour.
Break yolk up with fingertips.
Knead.
Repeat step #4 & #5.
Don't be afraid to add lots of flour if you need to, it won't effect the gnocchi.

Step #6
 
Knead into a dough like consistency, not too sticky.
Quarter the ball of dough.

Step #7

Continuously sprinkle workspace with flour.  Take one quarter of dough and roll into a bread stick shape maybe an inch thick, half stick again for a more manageable roll.

This was the part I struggled with.  One end would get skinny while the other would be thick and cube like.  I had all these random flaps.  It was ridiculous.  Jimmy was very patient with me. Yes ladies, he's single...

Step #8

Cut gnocchi into bite size pieces. 
Sip wine. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Step #9

Take fork and press down on each piece while rolling it towards you.  I went super slow at first trying to make them perfect, which is impossible, but shape really doesn't matter.

Step #10

Drop about 10 or 15 into a pot of boiling water. 

Each piece floats to the top when it is fully cooked. 

Don't forget to drop one or two to your Holmey.

He'll appreciate it.

Take a slotted spoon, scoop out floating gnocchi and place in a bowl.

Keep going...

Drizzle a little olive oil to keep them from sticking together.  In fact they will keep for a few days if you cover them in canola oil and refrigerate them.










Now for the sauce....

  Jimmy made this incredible tomato sauce that took him 20 years to perfect. It was simmering stove top when I arrived...so distracting, my mouth watered for hours!

I whipped together a lemon cream sauce made with butter, lemon zest & juice from 2 lemons, a couple tablespoons of lemon thyme leaves, cracked pepper, a splash of white wine, Cheyenne pepper, shredded Parmesan cheese and some fried sage leaves. 

 Finally we sat down with two heaping bowls and Gorillaz live at the Apollo.



This epic evening kept me out way to late on a "school night" so of course the next morning I end up temporarily forgetting my totally unforgettable pasta.  I was pouting at my desk for a good long time but eventually focused on the silver lining of an amazing dinner
UNTIL....I got an email with this!

"Decided to have gnocchi for lunch and they were even better a day later."

Damn.


I've been day dreaming about this for hours....

Gnocchi Gnight round due!

 If I'm stuck doing math, I might as well be doing math while eating gnocchi. 
According to my calculations, I am about 1/6th of my way through this beauty and about 75% done with my homework!