Potato Gnocchi in Sage Butter with Crispy Potato Skin Petals

 

Ciao a tutti!! I know it has been a while. I’ve been very busy getting ready for my upcoming time in Italy, setting up dinners, events, classes, etc. I am SO EXCITED!!!!! In fact, to say I’m excited is downplaying it. Like last year, I will be journaling a lot of my trip and will be sure to share a lot of pictures, details, recipes, menus and more with you. I look forward to another wonderful adventure.

 In the meantime, I will share with you my recipe for Potato Gnocchi in a Sage Butter Sauce with Potato Skin Petals. I got the idea for the petals because I really don’t like to waste ANY food if it can be helped. So, when I was preparing the potatoes for the gnocchi and I had all the skin left, I thought “hmmmmm, why not fry this in some butter and top the gnocchi with it?” I know, I know, I’m crazy!! Enjoy!!

Potato Gnocchi in Sage Butter with Crispy Potato Skin Petals

 

Potato Gnocchi

 



3 ½ ounce of double zero flour (if you can’t find 00 flour, you can use AP)

1 lb. potatoes

1 egg

Pinch of salt

 

Sage Butter

 

5 tbsp. butter

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

Sage leaves, gently torn (as much or as little as you like)

 

Potato Skin Petals

1 tbsp. butter

Potato Skin

 

Put you potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold salted water. Bring the water to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, this should take around an hour.

 

 

Let the potatoes cool. Peel them and be sure to set the potato skin aside! Put the potatoes through a rice. Combine the potatoes with flour, egg and salt. Mix by hand or using a fork. Put the dough on a floured surface and divide into 4 portions. Roll each portion into a long log and cut each log into ¾ inch pieces using a flour knife. Press each piece of dough against tines of a floured fork, carefully push with a floured thumb in a forward motion toward the end of the tines and let the gnocchi fall from the fork. You can also use a gnocchi board (which I did, I also made jumbo gnocchi, which of course, you can do too!)

Cook the gnocchi in salted boiling water. Fresh pasta cooks much quicker than dried, package pasta, do DO NOT OVER COOK!! The gnocchi should be tender and cooked within 3-5 minutes.

 In the meantime, while the gnocchi is boiling, prepare a medium size pan over medium heat. Add the butter, salt and pepper. Allow the butter to brown slight and add the torn sage leaves. By this point, drain the gnocchi and add to the pan with the butter sauce. Let the gnocchi sit and heat in the sauce for a few minutes so the butter leaves a nice coating on the pasta. Feel free to add a little pasta water as well, I always do. For the potato skin petals, in another small pan, heat on medium heat. Add the butter and the potato skins. I like to tear the potato skin with my hands and create little shreds. Let it fry in the butter for a few minutes until crispy. Plate the gnocchi and add the potato skin petals directly on top and of course, you must add a sprinkle of parmigiana and a glass of wine. Buon Appetito!!

 

Beet Gnocchi with Beet Greens Pesto

I have confessed my love for pasta multiple times. I mean, I’m Italian, not liking pasta would practically be considered a sin, right? Well, maybe not, but to some people. The funny thing is, I hated pasta when I was little, I didn't want any part of it. But now, I’d say I have pasta anywhere from 3-4 times a week. 

Since I really started cooking and when I say really, I mean REALLY. When I use to cook, I would make eggs, simple pasta dishes and I loved to bake. Now I’m very into making everything from scratch and that includes my pasta. One of my favorite pastas is gnocchi, which is an Italian dumpling that is traditionally made with flour and potato, of course like any pasta, there are a million variations. I've even made Gluten Free Pumpkin Gnocchi, so pretty much nothing is off limits!! 

For weeks, I've been wanting to experience with different gnocchi’s and what intrigued me…was the beet. Beet Gnocchi that is!! I knew I wanted to serve it in a special sauce, something a little “out there”…beet greens pesto!!

When you get beets the top have all of these beautiful greens that most people don’t bother using, but when I got my beets, they were extremely fresh, so I turned the greens into pesto! These gnocchi have a wonderful earthy taste, the flavor is not of your typical gnocchi, however the texture is. There is nothing like homemade gnocchi, they are so light and tender. I call gnocchi little clouds, because to me, that’s what they taste like! Making homemade gnocchi does take some effort, but to me, it’s completely worth it. You’ll never want to buy packaged gnocchi again!

Beet Gnocchi

1 pound of potatoes

½ pound of beets

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

¾ cup of double 00 flour (if you don’t have double 00 flour, you can substitute semolina or AP)

Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Cleaning your potatoes and beets. Cut the beet greens off of the top and set them all aside in a large bowl. Bake the potatoes and beets until they are tender, this could take anywhere from an hour or so, depending on the heat of your oven.

Once the beets and potatoes are done, take them out of the oven. Split the potato so steam escapes. Allow to beets to cool while preparing the potatoes. With the potatoes, peel off the skin and take out of the flesh. Set the potatoes aside.

When the beets have cooled, peel the skin and transfer the beets to a food processor. Add the olive oil, salt and pepper. Process until smooth.

With the potatoes, pass the potatoes through a ricer into a large bowl. Add the beet puree. Add the flour in shifts. Use your hands; do not use a spoon or a whisk of any kind!! As you go along, you will be able to tell if you may need more flour. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll a piece of the dough into a rope and then cut into little pieces. Continue rolling the dough into ropes and cutting until you have finished making all of your gnocchi. I kind of like it when my gnocchi are slightly different sizes and shapes, there is something rustic about it me. Put the gnocchi on the parchment paper. I put my gnocchi in the refrigerators for around an hour to set and make sure they hold their shape.

In the meantime, make your beet greens peso…

Beet Greens Pesto

½ cup to 1 cup of olive oil (depends how thick or thin you want it)

1 tbsp. salt

1 tbsp. pepper

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

1 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice

½ cup of toasted pistachios

The beet greens from your ½ pound of beets, cleaned, blanched and chopped

¼ cup basil, cleaned, blanched and chopped

¼ cup parsley, cleaned, blanched and chopped

½ cup grated parmigiana

Add your olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper, lemon juice and pistachios to a food processor. Pulse a few times. Add your beet greens, basil, parsley and parmigiana. Taste, you can adjust the salt and pepper if you like. Mix until smooth and creamy. Store in an airtight container in your refrigerator. I would suggest using this within a week.

Back to the gnocchi!! Prepare a large with water over high heat. Set a pan on the stove where you will transfer your gnocchi when they are done. When the water is boiling, add the gnocchi. Fresh gnocchi cooks VERY quickly. Once it floats to top, using a slotted spoon, put the gnocchi in your other pan. Add ½ cup of the beet greens pesto to the gnocchi and gently toss. Enjoy!! 

Bella Roma- Part Uno; Castel Sant’Angelo and Seafood Pasta

Rome. When I first came here to study opera in the summer of 2011, I didn't quite know what to expect. My mother had been before and loved it and of course I have a lot of pride in my Italian background, but I had never been out of the country and was a little nervous. But, like most people that visit Italy, I instantly fell in love. It may sound like a cliche  but it’s true. I feel in love with the culture, history, the people, the food and just everything about being in Italy. I mean, what’s not to love?  

The second I landed back home, I was literally counting the minutes until I got to return. And luckily, just a year, 5 months, 11 days and 7 hours later, I got back to Italy. Not only was I going to get to experience Roma, but Firenze as well. On my first trip, we spent 6 nights in Rome and two weeks in Ischia and I loved every second of it. This time, we would be spending 2 and half weeks in Rome and a week in Florence.

Today, we decided to cross the Tiber River and go to one of my favorite places in Rome, Castel Sant’Angelo. One of the reasons I love Castel Sant’Angelo so much is that it figures prominently in Puccini’s “Tosca.” It is the prison and execution location of Mario Cavaradossi, as well as where Floria Tosca throws herself from the rooftop after learning of Cavaradossi’s death, as she is trying to escape from Scarpia’s henchmen. As she stands on the edge about to kill herself, she sings “O Scarpia, avanti a dio!” and the theme of the hauntingly beautiful aria “E lucevan le stelle” is played. Every time I visit, I feel the need to sing the last line all the way at the top (only if no one is around of course.)

Castel Sant’Angelo is the tomb of Hadrian and was later used by popes as a fortress and castle. It’s very fun walking around and finding little nooks and crannies to squeeze into. After exploring for a few hours, we decided it was time for lunch and ate at a little restaurant right off the Tiber. As soon as we glanced at the menu, we knew we had to try the gnocchi with fresh seafood. 

Homemade gnocchi with shrimp, clams, tomato and arugula in a garlic wine sauce. We also shared a Caprese salad. The pasta was incredible. The gnocchi were light and fluffy, just the way homemade gnocchi should be. The seafood was delicious and fresh, the sauce a wonderful fragrant combination of the wine and garlic, mixed with the seafood flavor and a little juice from the tomatoes. It was heavenly. While I don’t know the exact recipe of their version, I did try recreating my own once I got home, so I am happy to share my recipe with you. I made homemade gnocchi, but you can obviously use pre-made. Enjoy!!

Gnocchi with Seafood

1 pound of clams

1 pound of shrimp

1 package of gnocchi

¼ cup of olive oil

1 tbsp. crushed red pepper

4 cloves of garlic, minced very fine

½ cup of white wine

6 baby tomatoes, chopped in half

Handful of fresh arugula

Start off by cooking the clams with ½ a cup of water until cooked. Keep the liquid. Remove the meat from inside the clams and throw out the shells.

Start boiling salted water for your pasta. Once it has begun to boil, add the gnocchi. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, heat up the olive oil. Add crushed red pepper and garlic. Once the garlic has begun to brown, remove from heat and add the white wine and around 6 ounces of pasta water to the sauté pan. Put it back on the stove to heat.

When the pasta is almost done, remove from the water and add to the sauté pan. Save the water!! Add more liquid to the sauté pan depending on how creamy you want the sauce. Add the clams and shrimp and finish cooking with all the seafood until nice and al dente. Add the chopped tomatoes and arugula. Serve immediately. Enjoy with a glass of Prosecco. Buon Appetito!!