56 Fun With Gnocchi From:   drwo@woteki.com Subject: Fun with Gnocchi Date: November 9, 2003 6:39:48 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info My but we’ve been quiet out there! Ok, here’s some fun I had in my kitchen this weekend. As usual, there’s a story to tell: Last Sunday, Leslie hosted one of her famous pranzos, a leisurely afternoon of great Italian food prepared by her and Rob and excellent wines. One of the items on the menu was her justly “famous” spinach-ricotta gnocchi. (And they were delicious.) While enjoying them, one of my dining companions suggested that it would be fun to try to make pumpkin gnocchi. That got me to thinking. I had recently been to Babbo’s in NYC where I had some pumpkin lunes (think moon-shaped raviolis) and they were so good. With Thanksgiving coming I thought that an appetizer combing both spinach gnocchi and pumpkin gnocchi would be both colorful and scrumptious. Now I had made potato gnocchi before, but not spinach ones and certainly not pumpkin ones. But anything Leslie can do I can do better. So I requested her recipe, which is adapted from the River Café cookbook and I won’t reproduce it here. Upon doing some research in my library I also found a recipe in Marcella Hazan’s “Classic Italian Cookbook”. It differs from the River Cafe recipe in that it includes some onion and mortadella in the gnocchi dough. Sounds interesting. Armed with the spinach recipes and a recipe for Babbo’s pumpkin lunes (article attached) I adapted. The result is my recipe for Pumpkin Gnocchi, attached, which I wound up making with Butternut squash. Hey, it’s orange. I hope you enjoy the recipe. Regards, Tom pumpkinLunes PumpkinGnocchi.pdf From:   leslie.borden@comcast.net Subject: Re: Fun with Gnocchi Date: November 10, 2003 5:02:12 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Hmm, First, my blushes, Dr. Wo, thanks for the kind words. Second, “anything Leslie can do. . . . ”?  Them’s fightin’ words, pardner, and what a great fight to be in!! Third, the River Café Cookbook is, according to Nancy Pollard of La Cuisine, out of print, so I can supply the recipe if anyone wants it.  Nancy reminds me that I have adapted the recipe as published, which calls for the addition of a bunch of marjoram.  I don’t usually use it and tended not to have it in the house when I started making the gnocchi.  So it just evolved.   Fourth, re variations on the gnocchi, I’ve missed it in Marcella (and I thought I had read every pager over the years!), but did find it in the Saveur Cooks Authentic Italian book, which is a very good book.  They point out that (duh, it’s spinach), these gnocchi originated in Florence and that they are also known as “ravioli nudi,” which is just what it sounds like, “naked ravioli.”  Because they are basically a ravioli filling without being wrapped in pasta.   I never get tired of this stuff! See you around the (irrationally exuberant) kitchen, lb From:   kradit@earthlink.net Subject: Re: Fun with Gnocchi Date: November 10, 2003 9:28:22 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Leslie, you never cease to make me want to cook.  Please send the recipe. Kevin From:   leslie.borden@comcast.net Subject: Re: Fun with Gnocchi Date: November 11, 2003 2:55:26 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info . . . and here it is.  Again, if you want to do it the River Café way, chop and add a bunch of fresh marjoram.  R.C. also sautés the spinach in butter instead of boiling or steaming it.  I think the latter works fine, and even I occasionally reduce fat in a recipe. See you around the kitchen, lb Spinach Gnocchi with Ricotta.doc From:   drwo@woteki.com Subject: Re: Fun with Gnocchi Date: November 11, 2003 3:36:37 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Based on a taste test this weekend some revisions to the original recipe are in order. Yes, they did definitely pass muster with my favorite critics, namely my Thanksgiving oriented family, but we decided that the recipe needed a little more punch -- this is a work in progress. Here goes: • I think I called for a 1/4 t nutmeg. Suggest it needs to crank up to 1/2 t. That’s a lot of nutmeg, but you have a lot of gnocchi dough. • Consider other pumpkin pie spices, like ground cloves. This is, after all, a squash puree bound with flour and egg and it’s for Thanksgiving. Go for it. Or, as previously suggested in variations, try some cayenne pepper. • A nice herb like marjoram would be a good addition. • I called for salt to taste in the recipe. I think you’ll need 1/2 t minimum. • I called for zest of 1 lemon. You could add more. Instead of more lemon consider adding some orange zest. • The Babbo pumpkin lunes recipe called for crumbled amaretto cookie on top. That would work very nicely with these gnocchi. • You could add a touch of either balsamic vinegar or cognac to the dough. However, go lightly because the squash already has high moisture content and takes quite a bit if flour. In the taste trial I served these in combination with spinach gnocchi. The flavor and color combination was very nice. The squash gnocchi have a subtle flavor, hence the additional flavor ingredients. Definitely worth a try, especially, as Kent says, on  a winter weekend afternoon. T From:   leslie.borden@comcast.net Subject: Re: Fun with Gnocchi Date: November 11, 2003 3:45:28 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Tom, Thanks for the recipe - Nancy Pollard and I have decided to make squash gnocchi our fall project, so this one will get added to the test base. Re the combination with the spinach gnocchi, it doesn’t surprise me that it’s good (aside from the fact that you made them) - the two classic tortelli of Emilia-Romagna (tortelli is their local term for what most of us call ravioli) are squash-filled and “erbette,” which is ricotta with swiss chard or spinach, and if you are in a group, they’ll serve you a platter, half and half of each, for your primo.  Oh, the “Thanksgiving dinner” I remember at La Greppia, in Parma, in 2001. . . . lb From:   kent@kentcooks.com Subject: Re: Fun with Gnocchi Date: November 11, 2003 5:05:06 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info not that anyone asked, but... consider using a box of frozen chopped spinach here as a time saver. zap the unopened box in the microwave on high for 5 +/- minutes, emtpy into colander and let cool until you can easily squeeze it dry. the recipe won’t know and you’ve saved yourself much work. From:   leslie.borden@comcast.net Subject: Re: Fun with Gnocchi Date: November 11, 2003 5:43:10 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Kent, The thump you hear is me hitting myself in the head, a la “coulda had a V-8!”  Duh!  This is what I get for being a hair-shirt, start-from-scratch, HOME cook, not a professional. Thanks for the tip. See you around the kitchen, lb From:   kent@kentcooks.com Subject: Re: Fun with Gnocchi Date: November 12, 2003 12:03:09 AM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info *rubbing red spot on lb’s forehead with a bit of tigerbalm*. no biggie...we all learn the hard way sometimes. k