Gnocchi. Who doesn’t love those potato-ey pillows starchy goodness? We took a class via Zoom with Meryl Feinstein of Pasta Social Club, and a few months ago we finally made our first batch of gnocchi. While I’ve been a longtime fan of gnocchi, this was our very first time making it.
Like hand rolled pasta and ravioli, gnocchi is incredibly easy to make and requires very few ingredients for those of you who are still a bit leery about making too many trips to the grocery store. As far as sauces, there are so many routes you can go, from a simple brown butter sauce, or a freshly made or store bough pomodoro sauce. Since we had both bacon pieces, chicken broth and frozen spring peas on hand, we decided to try our gnocchi with a little sauce we whipped up as we went, along with some delicious spring onions from our mini deck garden.
Gnocchi with Crispy Bacon & Spring Peas
Ingredients for Gnocchi —
- 750 grams russet potatoes, cooked and riced/mashed (1¾ pounds uncooked or 4 large russet potatoes)
- 250 grams (2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 1 whole egg, beaten
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Additional flour, for dusting
Directions —
For the potatoes you can either cook them in the microwave for 14 minutes, or cook in boiling water. While the potatoes are still warm, pass them through a ricer (or cone shaped cheese grater) onto a large plate. Spread out the riced potato and allow to cool completely so all steam evaporates. Pat dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture, then weigh out 300 grams of the potato and combine with the remaining ingredients. Knead very lightly into a ball until the dough just comes together. If your dough is sticky, you can add more flour. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for about an hour.
After the dough has chilled in the refrigerator for 1 hour, cut into four wedges. Remove one wedge and wrap up the remaining dough and place back in the refrigerator.
Lightly dust your counter or hard surface with flour and gently roll into a thick rope, about an inch in diameter, then cut the rope into pillows of desired size.
Transfer gnocchi to a floured surface and follow the above steps with the remain sections of dough.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil until the gnocchi rise the surface of the boiling water and remain there for at least 2 minutes. While the gnocchi are still in the boiling water, start the sauce.
Sauce —
- 2 tbsp goat butter
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 spring onions (mini) thinly sliced
- 2 – 3 tbsp bacon pieces or pancetta
- 1 cup peas (also try out 1/2 a package of pea shoots instead of peas!)
Directions —
On medium high heat, add goat butter. Add thinly sliced spring onions and let them sauce for 1-2 minutes. Add gnocchi, and cook until beginning to brown. Add peas and 2 cups chicken broth and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
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