Gnocchi alla lefto'versi

Step 1: Make gnocchi. I had lots of leftover potatoes that were starting to go all mushy. I'm sure we all know how to trot the gnocchi tango, but heres a quick recap:

Boil peel and mash potatoes
a) Add about a cup of flour and one egg per pound potatoes. And lots of salt.
b) Mix it all up until doughy like.
c) Make it into whatever shape you damn well please
d) Boil em until they float
e) Profit!

Now I've got about 5 pounds of gnocchi to use. The other night I killed some leftovers birds with one doughy stone (hah!)

I like my gnocchi fried in butter/olive oil until nice and crispy on the outside and soft and doughy inside, so that's what I did.

Then, I sautéed some thin sliced carrots, diced red onions, and copious scallions. Oops, I guess we're in step 2 now.

Added some leftover red sauce and meatballs. Tossed it all together, shaved parmesan on top, and a final garnish with tarragon.

Lillian weighs in:

Hi there! I love to make gnocchi too and I have a few more tips:

you can use any kind of starchy vegetable: sweet potato, squash, etc...; some people use all AP flower or part semolina. It's a very flexible recipe.
I add a little ground nutmeg and sometimes white pepper to the dough.
Keep the dough very soft, and use a potato ricer if possible when you mash up your starch so that they're nice and fluffy.
If you want to freeze some of your dough for later use, freeze the formed gnocchi before you boil them. Place them spaced apart on a floured tray in the freezer until they're hard, and then scrape them off into a plastic bag. Then when you're ready to use them, throw the gnocchi (still frozen) into boiling water.

Comments

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