"For me, all Italian food, no matter how sophisticated, is comfort food. That said, nothing is as satisfying or conjures the cooking from Nonna’s kitchen more than gnocchi in brown butter. Really, what could possibly be more heartwarming than fluffy potatoes and butter?
I make gnocchi the way I make biscuits: using a bench scraper to cut all the ingredients together. Doing so makes them very light and pillowy. The rye flour in this recipe gives the dough an earthy flavor and has very little gluten, which also guarantees a lighter dough. I usually work in metric weights, but I also included the US measurements because you don’t need metric precision here—the flour you need could vary slightly according to the potatoes you use. Through trial and error, I have found that using half waxy and half starchy potatoes make for perfectly tender gnocchi."
Potato Gnocchi with Browned Butter
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Recipe Intro From whalebonemagazine
This recipe is from Whalebone Magazine & All Birds new cookbook "Holiday Comfort, A Cookbook" , pick up your copy here! 100% of proceeds are headed to Sierra Club; what could be better than doing good while cooking great food?!
Recipe adapted from Flour Lab by Adam Leonti (published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC). Food photo credit is copyright © 2019 by Andrew Thomas Lee. Click here to buy the book!
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Note: Rye flour can be purchased through online retailers or at your local bakery. If you’d like to try your hand at milling your own flour, which I do for all my pasta and bread, Mockmill makes an easy-to-use stone mill for home cooks. For milling rye berries, I set the Mockmill to the finest setting, and then leave the flour unsifted.
Prep time 30mins
Cook time 1hr 15mins
Serves or Makes: 6-8
Recipe Card
ingredients
- Sea salt
- 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
- 1 pound Idaho potatoes
- 3 cups rye flour
- 3 eggs, beaten
To Serve
ingredients
- 2 cups finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 3/4 tablespoon coarse ground black pepper
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup loosely packed fresh sage
Method
Step 1
To make the gnocchi: Place the potatoes in a medium pot and cover with cold water. Salt the water and bring to a boil over medium-low heat. Cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, 40 minutes to 1 hour.
Step 2
Drain the potatoes and peel them while they are still hot. Pass the warm potatoes through the ricer onto a lightly floured work surface. Distribute 2 1/2 cups of the flour, the eggs, 1 1/2 cups of the cheese, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of the salt evenly over the potatoes. Using the bench scraper, chop to mix the ingredients just until they come together. If the dough seems too wet or sticky, add more flour, 2 tablespoons at a time. Then, lightly knead the dough with your hands until the flour and egg are fully incorporated, about 15 seconds, and form a large log of dough.
Step 3
With the bench scraper, cut off a 5-ounce piece, about 1/4 of the dough, keeping the remaining dough covered with a clean kitchen towel. Working from the center outward on a surface lightly dusted with flour, roll the dough to form an 1 1/2-inch-thick cord; then cut the cord into equal bite-size pieces, about 1-inch in length. Lightly dust them with flour and set them aside on a large platter or sheet pan.
Step 4
Repeat the process with remaining dough. (The gnocchi will keep, uncovered, for two days in the refrigerator or, wrapped in plastic, for up to a month in the freezer.)
Step 5
To serve: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Step 6
Meanwhile, toast the pepper in a large skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 3–4 minutes. Then add the butter and sage to the skillet, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the butter has just browned, about 6–8 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste, especially if using salted butter. Remove from heat.
Step 7
Add the gnocchi to the boiling water and cook unit until they float, about 3 minutes. Drain and, while still warm, gently transfer portions to serving plates. Sprinkle with cheese to preference and pour about 1 1/2 tablespoons of warm butter sauce over each portion, making sure to include sage leaves on each. Serve immediately.