Month: June 2010

Making you own, homemade gnocchi is magical.

It will bring you a very special, exciting feeling of triumph – like now that you can make your own gnocchi you can do really anything.

Or maybe it’s just me – estimating my future life through my food accomplishments.

Maybe I’m just weird.

Nevertheless, making gnocchi is really easy.

So please, PLEASE, don’t you ever believe anyone who’ll try to tell you something different.

Because to make it, all you have to do is to mix four simple ingredients into one ball, cut it into teeny-tiny pieces and drop it into a pot of boiling water.

Simple as that.

I’ll show you what I mean – just have a look:

These are the ingredients we need – for the gnocchi and for the delicious, creamy mushroom sauce, too.

1. Let’s start by boiling the potatoes.

To make that – place them in a pot filled with water, bring to boil and let cook until the potatoes soften.

You can check whether they are cooked by sticking a knife in their centers – if it runs smoothly and there’s no resistance, then it’s done.

This process should take about 25-30 minutes.

2. Strain the potatoes and let them cool – just until they are cool enough to be handled with your hands.

(You can speed up this process by placing the cooked potatoes into a pot of cold water for a couple of minutes.)

3. Using a knife, peel the potatoes.

4. Then, using a potato masher preferably (Did you hear that Petra? When are you going to get that?) mash the potatoes.

5. Add the flour, egg and salt and combine with a rubber spatula.

6. Then go on and commit the worst gastronomic sin of them all – mix by hand with you nail polish applied.

Yes Petra, you heard well, you are guilty.

7. Knead the mixture by hand a couple of times until a compact ball forms.

The dough is not going to be extra smooth so don’t worry about that.

8. Place the dough onto a well floured surface.

9. Then using a sharp knife, cut the dough into eight even pieces.

Form a ball from each piece and then roll each ball into this long skinny cigar-shaped log.

10. Using a knife, cut the log.

Continue, until all of your dough is cut.

11. Pour water into a larger pot and bring to boil.

12. Drop about 20 pieces of gnocchi into the boiling water, let cook and stir them gently once (so that they don’t get stuck to the bottom of the pot).

When the gnocchi float to the top, let them cook for additional 20 seconds.

13. Remove them from the water…

… and place them into a larger pot or bowl with some vegetable oil inside.

14. Toss the cooked gnocchi around the pot so that they mix with the oil and don’t get stuck together.

15. Repeat the process with another 20 pieces and then again and again.

And that’s it for the gnocchi.

Now onto the sauce.

1. Melt the butter in a larger pan.

2. Chop the onion.

3. Chop the garlic.

4. Add the onion and the garlic into the pan and cook for about 5 minutes stirring constantly.

5. Now chop the mushrooms.

I’ve used champignons but you can use any kind you like.

6. Then grab some parsley…

… and chop it real good.

7. Add the mushrooms and the parsley to the pan and stir-fry for another 5 minutes.

8. Chop the bacon and add it in.

Stir and fry for 3-5 minutes.

9. Then add the cream and the broth and cook for another 5 minutes.

10. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste.

Yummy.

Enjoy, dear friends.