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!!

 

You guessed it, more PASTA from school in Florence!

Ciao a tutti!! Another day of classes at Giglio Cooking School in Firenze and boy do we get a lot done in those three and a half hours. Today we made pasta again…but oh boy, this was not just “pasta.” This was real deal homemade stuffed pasta. We had so much fun making the dough, then using the machine to roll it out, making all of the different fillings and stuffing them. Here is a menu of what we made.

Spinach Ravioli filled with Artichoke in a Pecorino and Thyme Sauce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tortellini in Brodo

 

Agnoloti alla Piemontese (in a butter and sage sauce with thin slices of white truffles)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ravioli al Consomme (stuffed with a meat gelatin) with Zucchini Cream, Carrot Petals and Fried Parsley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The spinach ravioli was stuffed with a creamy artichoke filling, the tortellini was made with a stuffing that had pork, chicken, mortadella, prosciutto, cheese and seasoning, the agnoloti was stuffed with a mix of brasato and roast pork and the ravioli was filled with Broth. These were all just amazing, different techniques, a lovely combination of flavors and textures, just perfect. Ciao ciao for now!

Cooking School in Firenze, Tagliatelle and Orecchiette and Sfrappole, Oh My!!



Fresh tagliatelle.

Sfrappole, garganelli & orecchiette Emiliane.

Buongiorno! Though, I actually should say bounasera since it is already dark here in Florence. I had my first day of classes today at Giglio Cooking School owned by Marcella Ansaldo. It’s only been one day and I can’t wait to get back to class tomorrow. Not only is Marcella a lovely woman, but she clearly knows her way around a kitchen and her passion for food and cooking shows. These courses are not just demonstration, so if you’re looking to get your hands messy and do some work, then this is the right place!



I am here for the month long course, Italian Cuisine Across Time and Space, from basic traditional recipes to innovative techniques.  It’s three and a half hours every morning. As many of you know, I am a self-taught cook, but I recently starting working with a company called Feast on History as their sous chef for dinners and private events, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get some real training. And oh yeah, spending a couple of months in Italy doesn’t hurt either. 
 

Our first day was fresh and dry pasta. We made two basic pasta doughs, simple pasta with semolina and a pasta with mixtures of 00 zero and semolina. From the pasta with semolina we made tagliatelle, garganelli, orecchiette emiliane and sfrappole and from the pasta with the 00 zero and semolina we made orecchiette pugliesi. Marcella also gave us a wonderful lecture on the history of pasta, which for someone as interested in food as I am was very useful. These are the dishes we prepared, all from scratch:

 

Garganelli with Zucchini and Shrimp
 

Sfrappole with Baby Calamari and Arugula

 

Oricchiette Pugliesi with Cauliflower

Orichiette Emiliane with Ragu alla’Bolognese

Tagliatelle with Basic Meat Sauce

Ciao ciao for now!