Gnocchi is a big hit in our house. We all love it. There was a gnocchi request for dinner this week. Considering I had some potatoes which needed a purpose, seemed like a sensible solution.
When I first ate gnocchi I decided it must be complicated to make. It isn't. I didn't understand exactly how easy it was until I purchased The Silver Spoon Cookbook. (This cookbook is fabulous, by the way. True Italian cooking. Most recipes are short with a few ingredients and they all taste wonderful.)I peel a few potatoes (weighed out how many I needed). Cube and place them in the steamer to cook.
When the potatoes are done, rice them into a bowl and add the appropriate amounts of flour, egg and salt. (I prefer ricing the potatoes to achieve a smooth even texture. Ricing also creates less starch interactions in the potato than mashing.)
Flour a kitchen towel. Form the gnocchi and roll in flour. They are now ready to cook! That simple.
First, I soaked some dried white beans overnight in the refrigerator. When I got home that evening, I simmered the beans on the stove about an hour and half. Then drained the beans (retaining the cooking liquid), placed them in a container and stored them, and the juice in a separate container, in the refrigerator for the next day.
I thawed some of my homemade smoked turkey stock (about 4 cups) and added the cooking liquid from the beans. I brought this to boil, also adding salt to taste and chopped garlic. I cooked the gnocchi in the boiling broth, then added the chopped kale. Finally, I added the cooked beans to heat thoroughly.
YUM!
News from the needles:Look what arrived today. Happy mail day!
