tmg = too much gnocchi

Hello from my spot on the floor, where I'm currently rolling around with a gnocchi-induced stomachache.  Yum.  


I love gnocchi because the basic recipe is incredibly simple, uses very few ingredients, and best of all they come with a built-in mechanism to alert you when they're done: they float.  It's as satisfying as a turkey thermometer popping.  I guess so, anyway - I've never used one.


These parcels of goodness took a roundabout route to the plate, which I'll tell you now.


I started with a recipe for carrot gnocchi, and substituted roasted butternut squash.  Same color, right?

As I went through the recipe, all was well... we needed to add a LOT more flour than the 1/2 cup needed for carrots.  In the end we probably put in an additional cup or more of plain and semolina flour.


Next step of the recipe: Use two spoons to make quenelles.  What are quenelles?


One Google image search later, BF suggests a technique.  One Youtube search later and I have found the right technique.


I start scooping and spooning quenelles onto our floured counter.  We boil a huge pot of water and carefully slip the first batch of gnocchi in, quenelle by quenelle.


A few minutes later, we see that the water's not boiling, though the gas is turned on full.


We look at the burner itself.  The gas is dying down.  Our "temporary gas" source has been depleted.  Yes, we are out of gas again.  Luckily, our caretaker says he's heard there'll be more gas coming in next week and we should be getting a refill of our own canister then.


Quick, get out the hot plate!  Glad we bought this thing for the just-in-cases!


Turn the hot plate to full blast.  It goes in cycles of heating the element, then letting it cool down, and reheating it again.  This works for about ten minutes, but the water's still not boiling.


Ten minutes later, I worriedly conclude that the hot plate hasn't heated up the element in a long time.


I think we broke the hot plate.


We run downstairs to our neighbor's apartment.  He graciously lends us his stove.  We boil the water and cook the remaining gnocchi.  Success!


Dinner is served back in our apartment upstairs.  After cooking in a different kitchen with an identical layout, we are all slightly disoriented through the length of the meal.

Serve with sage for ideal pairing; find me sage in Accra and I will serve it.  Shown with parsley for color contrast.

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash (roasted to make 1.5lbs)
100g plain flour
100g ricotta
2 tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp semolina flour
4 egg yolks
salt
nutmeg
100g butter
handful of fresh sage leaves

Directions:

Cut the butternut into quarters.  Scoop out the seeds and strings; save the seeds for later if you plan to roast them.  Place the quarters skin-side up on a greased baking tray and cover with foil.  Roast at 300 until flesh is soft, about 40 minutes.  Let cool, then scoop out flesh with a spoon.  Puree with a hand blender or food processor until smooth.

In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, egg yolk, flours and parmesan cheese until just combined (try not to play around too much with the mixture to avoid it from eventually getting too chewy). Add the cooled butternut mash and season with salt and nutmeg.

With two tablespoons, make quenelles out of one tablespoon of the mixture (if you can’t get these right you can also simply roll them into ping pong sized balls), placing them on a lightly floured surface until you’ve finished. Heat a large pot of salted water to boil and (best with floured hands) drop in the gnocchi. Give a gentle stir to make sure they are not stuck to the bottom of the pot. Let boil for several minutes. When they begin to float they are ready. Reserve some of the liquid from boiling, and strain the rest. Set aside while you prepare the sauce.

(We skipped this next step and just poured melted butter and grated parmesan over the bowl of gnocchi.  Didn't want to overstay our welcome in the neighbor's kitchen.)  Prepare a sage and butter sauce, which should take you about 3 minutes at the most. Melt the butter in pan and allow to colour slightly. At this point, add the sage and then some of the reserved cooking liquid to create a sauce that you just want to coat the gnocchi. Let it reduce for a couple minutes, then add the gnocchi to the pan, season and divide onto plates. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

NOTE: to make quenelles, scoop one tablespoon half full of gnocchi mixture; scoop another tablespoon along the bottom of the first so the mix becomes a rounded parcel.  Rescoop as many times as necessary til the parcel looks like a lovely round torpedo.  Our mix was pretty sticky and the quenelles came out a bit... unsmooth.  Just another lesson we learned!

NOTE 2: to roast the butternut squash seeds: cover in olive oil, salt and pepper; can also use garlic powder or cayenne.  Pop in the oven for a few minutes; when you hear one or two pop, you can take them out!