For The Gnocchi
1- Can Pumpkin Pie filling, (1 pound)
2 -Tablespoons Butter
3 -Cups unbleached Flour, divided
1 -Large Egg Yolk
1 -Teaspoon Salt
½ -Teaspoon freshly Ground Black Pepper, or to taste
For The Sage Butter
½ -Cup or (1 stick) butter
12-24 -Fresh Sage Leaves
12- Pecans, broken into pieces
For The Garnish
2-3 -Ounces Parmesan Cheese
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salt, to taste
In a large bowl add 1 can of pumpkin and 2 tablespoons of soft butter, mix. Stir in a cup of the flour, the egg yolk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. You will have very sticky dough. Stir in another cup of flour, then sprinkle the remaining flour onto a clean, dry surface a ½ cup at a time scrape the dough onto the flour. Knead the mixture gently, incorporating just enough flour to make a soft dough. The dough should be sticky however; you may need a little more flour as this dough is very stick. I continued to keep my hands floured through the process.
To form the gnocchi, divide the dough into 10 pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a rope about an inch thick and cut the rope into pieces. With a well floured thumb and forefinger make a concave dumpling. Place the formed gnocchi in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with baker’s parchment, or a silicone baking mate. If you’re not going to cook them immediately, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the gnocchi for up to 4 hours or freeze them on the baking sheet covered with plastic wrap until frozen and transfer to a zip lock baggie.
When you’re ready to cook the gnocchi, bring a gallon of water with a tablespoon of salt to a boil. Cook the gnocchi in two batches in the boiling water until they rise to the surface of the water, about 3 minutes. Lift the gnocchi out of the water with a slotted spoon and hold them on a warm platter. Toss the gnocchi with the butter sauce nut sauce. Sprinkle grated Parmesan over the top of the dish and top with a few grinds of fresh pepper and salt.
To make the butter nut sauce, melt the butter in a small skillet over low heat. Add the sage leaves and nuts. Simmer until the butter turns golden.
I was a little apprehensive about making gnocchi. I’m not sure if it was because I’m not a fan of pasta or because they are always so perfect when I see them served at a restaurant. Nonetheless, I thought, what the hell. I’m going to try it. I found the dough very hard to work with as it was sticky through the whole process. I made them larger than I would have liked and I did not make the concave dumpling as I was trying to touch them as little as possible. If I make them again, I will add the little dumpling as it will hold the sage nut butter sauce in the little dimple instead of running all over the plate.
I boiled a small batch right after I made the gnocchi to try them and they were pretty darn good. I liked the pumpkin with nutmeg flavor as well as the sage nut butter sauce. I froze the remaining gnocchi by placing them on a silicone mat, covering them with plastic wrap and freezing them until they were frozen. Then I placed them into a Ziploc freezer bag. This prevented the gnocchi from sticking together. It was easy the following day to boil the water and make the frozen gnocchi; it took about 10 minutes before the gnocchi floated to the top. Keith said they tasted better the first day when they were fresh, but I thought they tasted very good both days.
This recipe was fun to make and I’m glad I did it even though I was apprehensive. The recipe made a much larger batch than I expected and I still have a few in the freezer to make in the future. I would make these again but I would make them a little smaller and make the concave dumpling. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
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