Buttery Gnocchi

October 26, 2017

The ultimate comfort food dish, buttery gnocchi is truly bliss, but it is also a true culinary art, that can take time to prefect.  If you've always wondered what the fuss is about, you probably have not tasted really good gnocchi. Two top tips are ... watch your water content- keep the base dough as dry as possible never sticky, and ALWAYS cook your potatoes with the skin on.

Ingredients

The Sauce

1/2 cup plant based Nuttelex

1/2 cup Pecorino cheese

1 tbsp thyme, basil or sage leaves

2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsly

1 dash salt

1 tsp pine nuts, roasted

The Pasta

1/4 cup plain flour

500 g russet potatoes, scrubbed clean, pierced all over with a fork

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg, large, beaten or egg replacer

Directions

1Preheat oven to 235°C. Set pierced and cleaned potatoes directly on the wire and cook for approx 45 minutes or until tender and soft when pierced.

2Remove from oven and slice each potato lengthwise and scoop out the white flesh, into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mash well with a fork. Mix in 3 tablespoons of the egg (discard any remaining egg). Then sift the flour over the potato mixture and mix just until blended. Shape into a ball gently.

3Divide the ball into 4 equal sections. Take one piece and roll into a snake shape approx 20 cm long and 1.5 cm deep using your palms (no fingers). Add a dust of flour if needed. Then cut the dough into 3cm pieces and place on a dusted tray. Repeat above for other 3 sections of dough until you have a tray of gnocchi.

4Take a fork and gently press the tines into the top of each piece of gnocchi to form a ridge pattern on each piece.

5Melt the Nuttelex in a heavy based pan over a medium heat until it begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the salt, and herbs. Set aside.

6Place gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water until the gnocchi rise to the surface, about 1 minute. Continue cooking until the gnocchi are tender, about 3-4 minutes longer.

7Using a slotted spoon, take gnocchi over to your pan with the Nuttelex and herbs and gently toss adding pine nuts and cheese. Serve immediately

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