vie a la table

winter is synonymous with hearty stews, pot roasts and comfort food. as much as i look forward to beautiful summertime tomatoes and berries, fresh salads and grilled meats, i am just as happy to sit down with a warm bowl of hearty goodness. winter also goes hand in hand with staying inside, keeping cozy, and for me, justifying why i don’t need to leave the house for a grocery store run.

now, i know it’s not blizzarding out right now (quite the opposite with it being 54 degrees outside!), but i still love the thought of being creative with what we’ve got in the pantry for a meal and keeping ourselves in… it makes me feel fiscally ’savvy’ i guess. it just doesn’t make sense to go to the grocery store every day (or two) to purchase ingredients for each meal. keeping things simple and learning how to utilize foods in different ways really has a positive impact on the budget.

something we (and i would guess most people) have on hand at any given moment are potatoes – they’re cheap and versatile. i can easily get bored with potatoes, clinging to the two simplest ways to cook/eat them (mashed and baked), so kris and i thought we’d try something we’ve never made before…gnocchi. we also had some marinara left over from a catering event from a bit ago, so it was a perfect addition to complete this hearty meal in a bowl.

i remember going to my grandparents house as a kid, watching grandpa making pasta. he had the perfect ‘rolling’ technique. a simple flip of his thumb and a perfect plop of potato would form. shaping the dumpling is simple enough.. once you get a feel for it.  it’s as simple as pursing the dough between the side of your thumb and the back of a fork. the ridges that are created helps the sauce cling to the gnocchi.

it’s an easy process… bake some potatoes, scoop ‘em out, roll and form, briefly boil and then drop into your sauce! it only takes one or two potatoes for a couple servings, so why not do a big batch and throw them in your freezer next to that marinara for a quick meal mid week? this will be great for us since i just got a full time job at a cafe and often don’t have time to cook at home. we’ll have some days where we will only see each other in passing and need some hearty sustenance without the time and labor.

Potato Gnocchi with Basil
2 russet potatoes
2 egg yolks
3/4 cup ap flour plus more for bench
1 tb chopped fresh  basil
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. bake potatoes at 400 degrees for 40 mins to 1 hour (until fully cooked). remove from oven and scoop out of skin into sieve. using wooden spoon, press potato through sieve into bowl for mixing.
2. lightly fluff potato with fork, mix in egg yolks being careful not to clump potato, try to keep the mixture as light and fluffy as possible. mix in salt, pepper and basil in the same fashion
3. add 1/4 cup flour mixing until dough starts to clump and bind. switch to spatula and fold in another 1/4 cup flour. mix remaining 1/4 cup flour lightly kneading with hands. (amount of flour will vary depending on the water content of your potatoes)  dough should be… doughy but soft and easily knead-able. sprinkle flour over workspace and from dough into rectangular block – slice into 4 pieces.
4. take 1 piece and roll from center outward until you have a long tube-like shape that is roughly 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick. chop dough tube into 1/2 inch ‘pillow-like’ shapes. using the edge of your thumb, roll each piece down the back of a fork onto the work-space leaving ridges along one side of the dumpling.
5. roll, cut and shape remaining dough.
6. in a large pot, bring salted water just to a boil.  drop gnocchi in and let cook until they float, once they float, let cook for exactly 14 seconds.
7. transfer into your favorite sauce and serve hot.

Filed under:
food, photos, wil by kris