Potato gnocchi
Once every while an Italian recipe!
Last year I shared the recipe of my granny’s apple pie, and it was the most commented post ever 🤣!
So here is another recipe, potato gnocchi!
For 3/4 people:
1kg old potatoes (they are perfect when the wrinkle and start to sprout)
About 60 gr flour
Salt
Seasoning: butter and sage
I tried several times with normal potatoes and always messed it up. Then my father told me to use old potatoes, those that are wrinkled and have sprouts. Probably this is the secret, because for 3 times they came out perfect and easy!
Clean the potatoes and cook them in a pressure pan, 20 minutes since it whistles. Much better in very salty water (with this I mean the double the salt you would use to cook pasta). To open the pan put it under fresh running water until it stops whistle and the valve goes down. If you don’t have a pressure pan, boil them about 40 minutes.
Smash the potatoes. You can do it even without peeling them, because the peel doesn’t pass through the holes! But don’t wait they cool down, you need them hot!
If you forgot to put salt in the boiling water 🙄 this is the last chance to add it 😅! I use very little salt. Then start to add little flour and mix with a spoon. The less flour the better! On 1 kg potatoes I added around 60 grams. Try every once in a while if it sticked to your fingers. If it does, add a bit more flour. If not, you are ready to mix by hand. Don’t wait, it has to be done fast even if it burns!
After mixing, make a sort of a big salame and cut wide slices. You can add a bit of flour on the table if the mix sticks on it.
Now, from each slice make a small roll (like grissini, bread-sticks) and cut the gnocchi in a regular rectangular shape. Try to make them all the same size. Then comes the difficult part. You need an old big fork. Grannies had those big ones, with rounded edges, those are the best. I only had a roast fork which is not optimal as it has only two prongs. Pass all of the gnocchi on the fork with one fingers so to obtain the characteristic shape.
And now a suggestion that came in Alessandro’s memory from his granny. To cook them, prepare boiling salty water, like you would do for pasta. Then put them in little by little, by hand, two at a time. Don’t put them all together, you could damage them or the water will stop boiling and they will melt. If the water stops boiling, cover it until it starts again. It must always be boiling. Very soon, they start coming up to the surface. Take out only those on the surface, and put some more in.
Dressing:
Melt the butter in a pan with some fresh leaves of sage. It’s important that it doesn’t fry but just melt 🙄. Pour on the gnocchi and scrape Parmesan cheese on it. Instead of Parmesan we use Trentin Grana from Val di Fiemme!
Enjoy!
News from da Spalla world
Violoncello da Spalla on Netflix!
Owen Pallett wrote some additional music for the soundtrack for a Netflix serie about Andy Warhol, https://www.netflix.com/it-en/title/81026142?fbclid=IwAR3UhRmNNwu7F-RoYin11L0hVsw-V6oAl9REuJX7hInVnE0EkQ-6P_zJPSE
In the first episode there’s a 3 minutes piece recorded on their Violoncello da Spalla!
More on Owen Pallett here:
Updates from our workshop
Today we had to be at the opening event of “Celebrating Women Luthiers: and International Exhibit”.
Instead, Alessandro was found positive at a covid test, so we couldn’t fly! We are fine. He has a cold and is positive, I have a slight fever and I am negative! However… we had to give up on meeting the wounderful people who made this first-of-this-kind-ever exhibit. I had to run to Cremona to ship the instrument so that at least it can make it for the next weekend!
The exhibit will start in Suwanee (Atlanta) at Huthmaker Violins, will move at the beginning of April to Brobst Violins in Alexandria, Virginia, and will end in late April/may at Vermont Violins, Burlington.
Get in touch with the wonderful people in these shops if you are around and want to try it!
As we are home, we are settling Alessandro’s new Violoncello da Spalla. Follow us next week to hear it!
Featured video of the week
Last Sunday we were rehearsing for what had to be our demonstration on my da spalla in Atlanta. Here a little take from that:
