Gnocchi

Most Saturdays I’ll head down to Eveleigh farmers markets in Redfern. They have great organic and biodynamic meat stalls, an heirloom tomato stand, fantastic eggs and herbs. One of my favourite stalls at the moment is the potato stall. They have more than 10 different types of potatoes and I’m well on my way to trying them all. As well as the usual suspects; Nicola, Dutch Cream, and Kipler they have the more uncommon varieties such as Pink Fir, Spunta and Royal Blue. Certain types are better suited to particular uses. There is a big debate out there concerning the method and potato variety which makes the best gnocchi: boiled, steamed or baked; floury or waxy. Gnocchi is one of my favourite ways to use potatoes and I’ve done some serious experimenting over the last year or so, making my way through the potato stands offerings. During this intensive experimentation I’ve switched camps from waxy/steamed to floury/baked. Steaming a waxy potato, such as Nicola, still makes a good gnocchi but is wetter, meaning more flour is necessary and results in much more delicate gnocchi, prone to falling apart. Baking a dry potato (the best results I’ve had so far have come from Kennebec's) require less flour and are more manageable and sturdy but still produce light, soft, pillowy gnocchi. The gnocchi in the picture are made from Innovator potatoes. I probably wouldn't use them again, the potatoes were too dry and thus very hard to push through my drum sieve and the end result was a bit stodgy. As you can see, I like my gnocchi rustic, I probably should add some indents with a fork to aid sauce absorption. As for sauces, you could serve a simple tomato sauce, pesto, or some mushrooms fried up with some garlic and chillies and simmered in vegetable stock.

Gnocchi

Ingredients:

750g floury potatoes

125g pasta flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1tsp salt

¼ cup verjuice
Butter

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Scrub the potatoes, dry with a tea towel/paper towel and bake them, covered in foil, with their skins on for an hour or until they are tender when pierced with a skewer. While still hot and with the aid of a tea towel peel the potatoes. Push through a fine mesh strainer, drum sieve or tammy onto the flour either on a bench top or larger bowl. Add the eggs and salt and mix to combine. Kneed briefly, only until the mixture forms a dough (if using a bowl tip onto a floured board or bench top now). You can leave it now for half an hour or so while you prepare your sauce. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Divide the dough into 4, on a floured surface roll each section into a long, thin sausage, about 1cm wide and cut along at 2cm intervals (mine are a little too big in the picture). Lightly roll each gnocchi between your palms and transfer to a baking tray lined with a tea towel. In batches, drop the gnocchi into the boiling water and as they rise to the surface remove with a slotted spoon and drain. Toss a bit of butter with the cooked gnocchi to prevent them from sticking. Transfer to a lightly buttered baking dish. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove and pour over ¼ verjuice, shake to turn gnocchi over and return to oven for 3 minutes. Remove from the oven; divide between bowls and spoon over sauce of your choice.

    

Serves 3 for a main and 4 for a starter.