Sundays. My one and only true, full day off. Goodness me, how I love them. Waking up knowing that the day is mine to do with as I please. This particular Sunday, after a walk around the quay and a stop off at March for hot chocolate, was dedicated to lunch making. I had friends coming and I wanted to make something that was special. Something that required a bit of hands-on time to show that I cared. You might remember a few weeks ago I tried my hand at pasta making? Take a peek here if you don’t! Well, this week I thought I might try my hand at making Gnocchi from scratch. If I am honest, it was a really simple process and it didn’t take half as long as I had thought and the outcome was dreamy. Little clouds of dumplings coated in a rich, slow-cooked tomato sauce and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese which resulted in my happiness levels rising to 100%. A great dish to share with friends with a little wow factor.
Nick and Harry arrived and out came the antipasti keeping with the Italian theme. The vino rosso was opened and glasses poured to have alongside. Then the big event was served to gentle applause and very kind words. I can’t tell you how relieved I was that all my efforts had worked.
Dessert was kindly made by Harry herself. A wonderful bergamot drizzle cake that I dolloped liberally with thick, unctuous natural yoghurt. What a delight. As if that wasn’t enough, I served two of my favourite cheeses purchased from Country Cheeses in Topsham. Blue Bay, made especially for them and categorically my absolute favourite cheese ever plus some oozing Sharpham Elmhurst. Another firm favourite. We are so lucky to have wonderful local cheeses available to us here in Devon.
Now on to the recipe for gnocchi. Please do give it a try. It’s so much easier than you might think and looks so impressive. Let me know how you get on.
- 400g Fluffy potatoes such as Maris Piper or King Edwardpeeled and cubed
- 150g plain flour
- Salt and milled pepper
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 1 onionfinely chopped
- 3 garlic clovescrushed
- 2 tins of chopped tomatoesor fresh chopped tomatoes
- 10 basil leaveschopped
- Parmesan cheese to serve
- Cook the potatoes in salted boiling water until tender, drain and mash, trying to make sure the potatoes are as lump free as possible.
- Place the mash into a bowl, season with salt and milled pepper add the flour and using a fork bring the mixture together to form a dough. Knead for a couple of minutes.
- Split the dough into 2 and then roll each into a sausage shape. Cut the dough into 2cm pieces and using the back of a fork press gently each gnocchi to give an authentic look.
- Bring a pan of salted water to the boil.
- Meanwhile for the sauce, simply fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil over a low heat until soft, add the tinned tomatoes and season with a little salt and milled pepper. Cook down until the sauce becomes thick. About 10 minutes. Stir in the basil.
- Cook the gnocchi in the boiling water until they rise to the surface, drain. If you fancy a bit more texture in your dish then toss the strained gnocchi in a hot frying pan with some oil to crisp up the edges a little. Mix the gnocchi with the tomato sauce and serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and extra basil. Delicious!
This post first appeared on Tara's Busy Kitchen (and Other Stories) - Food, Re, please read the originial post: here
