We all
appreciate a good old recipe from our granny – especially when it is an Italian
recipe. Last week Mirco’s dear nonna shared one of her specialities with us - Gnocchi di patate con sugo di pomodoro.
Last
Thursday was our first Sezatoare Urbana in 2015 and we decided to go for
something special in celebration of the new year. In collaboration with our
colleagues from Inside Journey, we
chose “International Cooking” as the topic.
To
those who never tried home-made gnocchi I must testify a clear lack. Admittedly,
before last week I was one of them. I was never a friend of potatoes and the
store-bought gnocchi were often too potatoey for me. So I was a bit sceptic
when Mirco came up with the idea to cook gnocchi – however, you should know
that Mirco is strictly against everything that involves flour (“Carbs are my
enemy!”). Some of us seriously doubt his Italian nationality as he hates pasta
as the devil fears holy water.
So I
knew that the dish must be good – and oh me, oh my, it was the pure bliss.
While
some of us were cutting the tomatoes for the salad with butter knives due to a
lack in kitchen knives, the others had the pleasure to get stuck in sticky,
mushy dough (actually, the real fun begun when the eggs were added!).
Our office went through all the dusty, wet and then squashy stages of dough – making.
Although
we had many enthusiastic helpers who kneaded the potatoes with the semblance of
real cooks, making gnocchi is a time taking process. After 3 hours of peeling,
cooking, cutting, kneading, mashing and rolling the gnocchi were finally ready
to be cooked. (Ain't they beautiful?)
(you
can tell from the picture that also the dessert was a hit – Ghiorgie could not
help himself from finishing off the pudding all by himself)
Sadly, the gnocchi
were gone too fast to make a proper picture before. We gobbled it all up the second the gnocchi were on the table so I
have to leave you with your imagination here. But we were way to hungry and the food way to delicious too bear only one more second of waiting.
All the
more reason to try them out on your own! Let us know how you liked the recipe
from Mirco’s nonna
Gnocchi with tomato
sauce
Serves 6
people
For the gnocchi:
1 kg potatoes
250 gr all-purpose flour
1 pinch of salt
1 egg
For the sauce:
1 can of concentrated tomatoes
300 g fresh tomatoes
1 leak
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
6 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
Basil leaves
Salt and pepper
Parmigiano
Cook the potatoes in boiling salted
water. Peel and mash them while they are still hot.
Add the flour and salt and knead
with care so all ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Dust your working
surface with flour and form a roll that is two fingers thick. Cut the roll into
two cm pieces. To give them a beautiful shape, scrape the gnocchi with a fork
with the help of your thumb.
Now prepare the sauce by frying the
finely chopped onion in olive oil until golden. Then add the tomatoes, the leak
and the tomato pulp. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add
salt, pepper and sugar. After about twenty minutes add some basil leaves and
continue cooking on small heat.
Boil the water in a big pot and
throw in your gnocchi. As soon as they start to float, take them out and drain
them in a sieve.
Serve with Parmigiano and basil
leaves.
Pofta buna!
Ina
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