Potato gnocchi: a harmonious fusion of mashed potatoes and flour, shaped with love and topped with the sauce of your desires. A mouthful of comfort and joy in every bite.
Thursday dumplings. A well-known saying that arose from the need to rationalise food, dictating the rhythms of the week‘s meals. In particular, in anticipation of ‘Lean Friday‘, it was customary to eat a hearty dish the day before, exactly like gnocchi. If, then, these gnocchi are prepared with Cencerate potatoes, the taste cannot but excel.
A hamlet of Brallo di Pregola is home to a quality product. There are many reasons for this, from the climate, with its perfect temperature range, to the gravelly consistency of the soil, which favours water stagnation. A potato protected by the De.Co. mark, whose specifications also include specific dimensions. A minimum width of over 25 mm and a maximum of 120 mm. A taxation that is also extended to the presence of stains, cuts and abrasions. Only the best specimens are found on the market and are sold in bags of at least 2 kg and no more than 25 kg.
So many rules to follow, but for a unique product. Genus that makes it suitable for the preparation of tasty gnocchi. A word of Longobard origin and reminiscent of wood knots, but a dish that arrived on European tables only after the discovery of America. In fact, before this event, gnocchi were made from stale bread soaked in water or milk. Fortunately, with time, the beliefs that the potato was a poisonous plant have passed. Now that we can distinguish its leaves from those of the nightshade, we can eat this tuber without too much worry.
INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE
1kg Cencerate potatoes
300 g flour
1 egg
salt
Nutmeg
PROCEDURE
Rinse the potatoes and boil them in water until fully cooked (depending on their size) with their skins on. Drain and peel them.
Mash the potatoes with a potato masher and place them on a work surface. Add flour, salt, egg and grated nutmeg. Knead the mixture while still warm to obtain a homogeneous mixture. If it is still too wet, you can add more flour, but not too much, otherwise the gnocchi will be too hard after cooking.
Make vermicelli by rolling parts of the dough into pieces about two centimetres long. Prick the individual pieces with the prongs of a fork, obtaining the classic hollow on one side, the one that helps to better collect the sauce, and the knurling on the other side. Carry out this operation for all the gnocchi and place them on a floured surface.
Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water until they rise to the surface. Drain and season to taste.
Wine pairing:
RIESLING DOC BRINA‘- Ca del Gè
