Gnocchi, a really nice Italian dish.
I admit, I didn't eat a lot of Gnocchi in my life. I always preferred pasta.
I recently enjoyed some Gnocchi at an Italian restaurant. It was nice.
Yes, just nice - for my taste they were to soft.
And that is the reason I actually only made Gnocchi twice in my life.
They always turn to soft for my taste.
A couple of days ago I saw that my basil really grew. Plenty to harvest.
And I got the idea, why put basil into the sauce,... why not put it into the Gnocchi itself!
I was pretty keen on giving that a go.
And I am SO pleased with my result. This really was a very great dish.
The Gnocchi have a perfect consistency in my opinion. Not to soft, not to firm.
It was a bit of a challenge to get the dough right. But I made it :-)
Making Gnocchi is pretty much of a work. So when you want to do this,
take time off your day. This is not a 30minute dish.
But trust me, totally worth it!
I made the tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes this time.
Usually I use passata tomato sauce or diced tomatoes.
But for homemade Gnocchi I thought, fresh tomatoes need to go into the pot!
It is a simple sauce. And I really love how the basil in the Gnocchi comes together with the tomato sauce.
I just love it!
Lets get started....
Ingredients for the tomato sauce:
500g fresh rispen tomato (you also can use Roma tomatoes)
(about 4 good sized tomatoes)
80g diced onion
10g (2 middle sized cloves) garlic - grated
1/2 tbsp cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
200ml filtered water
70g organic tomato paste
1/2 tsp dry Majoran***
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
70g smoked tofu - small cubed --- OPTIONAL
***I used fresh majoran I dried. From my garden.
Don't add to much majoran, because the star is the basil in this dish.
Ingredients for the Basil Gnocchi
700g potatoes (floury, not waxy potatoes)
40g fresh basil
80g potato starch
90g Millet flour
1 tbsp Psyllium husk - OR - flax meal if you don't mind a darker colour
6ml cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp pink or sea salt
Extra Millet flour for your work surface.
Directions:
Cook potatoes in their skin and cool down completely. Best is to do that one day ahead!
1. start with the sauce. Bring some water to the boil. Add the tomatoes.
When the skin starts to crack, remove tomato from the water.
Cool down to handle and remove skin. Dice up and set aside.
2. heat some oil in a pot and fry the onion until slightly golden. If you want to use smoked tofu as well, also add the tofu.
It is fine to not use smoked tofu if you do not feel good with soy. The sauce will be delicious without it as well.
3. add the diced tomato and season with salt. Add water and tomato paste, grate the garlic into the sauce, some majoran
and let it simmer on low heat for about 20minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.
Gnocchi:
1. remove skin from potatoes and grate with the rough side of your grater.
2. pick the basil leaves and chop up finely. I used my kitchen machine to do that.
Just on low speed for a couple of seconds.
Add to the grated potato with the flour, salt, husk/flax, starch and oil.
Use your hands,... mix well to a smooth dough. Rest for about 15 minutes.
3. add some flour to your surface and knead the dough well again.
When it is easy to handle (and it should be), cut into pieces and form to a snake.
About 44cm long and 2cm wide.
4. Cut into small pieces, about 1,5 cm.
5. roll a bit into shape with your hand on the surface and use a fork to make a pattern.
You can also skip this part, but with a pattern, the Gnocchi will act better with the sauce.
6. Bring water with a bit of salt to the boil and add the Gnocchi. Turn down the heat to a slight simmer.
The Gnocchi will swim on the ground of the pot.
7. when the Gnocchi swim on the surface, they are done. That does not take long. About 5 minutes.
8. Remove from the pot, drain a little bit and add to a bowl.
Sprinkle with a little bit of olive oil and mix well.
This way they will not stick together.
This serve should be enough for 3-4 people.
Serve with a salad on the side and some gluten free bread of your choice.
And the sauce of course,...
9. ENJOY - Buon Appetito....
If you have any questions to making these, feel free to get in contact via contact form or visit my page on Facebook here,...
www.facebook.com/VeganCookingChef/photos/a.270986519667832/5701289916637438/