Bon Appétit Series Background Recap: I was tired of reading the magazine each month, saying, “Oh that looks great, I’ll make that”, then the magazine ends up in the cupboard or trash, never to been seen again. Never more! Now I’m holding myself publicly accountable; each month I will cook at least one recipe from Bon Appétit and post it on here.
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The small gap between dreamy, pillow-like gnocchi with a creamy interior and lump, dense, potato bombs is the epitome of the dichotomy between simplicity and perfection that exists in Italian cooking. Traditional gnocchi are potato and flour, shaped into a dumpling, and boiled. Definitely sounds easy.
But just like pasta, gnocchi is an Italian art form, a deliberate process all the way through. It’s easy to make bad risotto. It’s even easier to make crappy gnocchi. My suggestions for making decent gnocchi are the same as I would offer for risotto – respect the process. Keep the potato mixture light and don’t overwork it. Add flour until the dough is that perfect balance of workable and sticky. Take great care to not under or over cook the gnocchi. And keep at it. Similar to pizza dough, pasta, or risotto, I really think an experienced hand makes a difference, and I need much more gnocchi experience. I think my next purchase will be a ricer to get even lighter potatoes. Have you tried making gnocchi? Any good tips you’ve accumulated along the way?
I started by cooking my russets in an oven, then I scooped out the flesh and pushed it through the food mill attachment of my food processor. Avoid gummy potatoes (read: NO stand mixer) at all costs. Then gently mix in the potato with the egg and flour using an fork.
After kneading the dough for as little time as possible, I started forming my gnocchi. I highly recommend purchasing a dough scraper for this part if you don’t have one. You can buy a board to form the impressions on each gnocchi, or just use a fork like I did.
An industrial baking sheet really comes in handy sometimes, even though this guy doesn’t fit in my oven. It’s perfect for holding dozens of dumplings.
Prior to forming the gnocchi, I made the mushroom ragu, sans the pork because of a particular vegetarian. The sauce would have been much more savory and balanced with the slow simmered pork, but the addition of the porcini and crimini mushrooms made it a nice variation from a simple marinara.
I plated it with an obligatory sprinkle of parmigiano-reggiano, from @timthecheeseman, of course.
The gnocchi? Not the best ever. More on the dense side than the mushy side. I need a lighter dough, more uniform sized gnocchi (for even cooking), and to probably boil them even less than I did.
Enjoyably, each moment spent in the kitchen is an education, every new experiment an edible work in progress.
