Video recipe: gnocchi with butter and sage

A classic dish, gnocchi di patate con burro e salvia (potato dumplings with butter and sage), easy to make and even easier to eat (I love gnocchi and tend to overeat them...).

Maybe the biggest fun was going to the wonderful market right behind my mom's block and buying all the stuff we needed for this and for the next - yes, there's gonna be a next - recipe, filming among the people who looked at us and commented in their witty and direct barese dialect (the only Italian dialect I speak almost fluently - almost).

The quality and abundance of produce of the markets in Bari are legendary. And the prices! Take a look at the price tags and be jealous of those who live there like I was while doing my shopping. 6 euros for a kilo of fresh red mullet (niente nada frozen, only the freshest stuff!), 1,30 for a kilo of bananas and 1 euro for a kilo of oranges! Plus I bought the most wonderful artichokes, 10 (10!!!) pieces for 3 euros! Thinking that here in Amsterdam they can cost about 1,25 A PIECE and they're not even remotely as good looking and tasting as the pugliesi I was almost moved to tears. ;)

Well, here's my video blog of a great a day with my friends, cooking and having lunch together.  Hope you enjoy it! :)

P.S. My heartfelt thank to Valentina and Daniela for the "direction", our friend Antonio Bellino of Nikolaus Produzioni for his wonderful knowledge and our friend Teresa for joyfully sharing the shooting, the fun and the meal with us!

P.S. nr. 2: we're looking for sponsors to make many more videos! :)

How to make gnocchi with butter and sage from Nicoletta Tavella on Vimeo.

Gnocchi with butter and sage

Serves... a lot!

Ingredients for the gnocchi:

1,5 kg. starchy potatoes, for ex. Doré or Red Star*
300 gr. flour
1 egg 
a pinch of salt

 Ingredients for the sauce:

250 gr. butter
a bunch of fresh sage leaves

PLUS: some freshly grated parmesan cheese

GNOCCHI: Wash the potatoes and boil them (with their skin so that they don’t absorb too much water) in plenty of salted water until thoroughly cooked. It's important that while cooking they're completely under water.

Drain the potatoes, peel them and mash them with a potato ricer while still very warm. Make sure the purée is quite smooth, with no big potato chunks in it, and leave it cool off a bit.

Add egg, flour and a pinch of salt to the puree. Kneed the potato dough gently on the working table (dust it first with some flour). Don’t kneed too energetically otherwise the dough will get sticky. It has to become soft and quite elastic.

Take a piece of dough, dust it with a bit of flour and roll it with your hands to make a little long “sausage”, about 2 cm thick. Cut this roll in little chunks a couple of centimeters long. Repeat this until all the dough has been rolled and cut in bite-size pieces.

Use a gnocchi board to shape each one of the gnocchi rolling them on the ribbed surface (you can also use a fork and press each gnocco gently against the tines of the fork). The grooves are important because they "catch" the sauce, just as the track left by your thumb on the other side does. Lay the gnocchi on a clean kitchen towel so that they don’t stick to the working surface.

SAUCE: Melt the butter in a little pan on a low flame. Let it gently simmer until it becomes transparent and add the sage leaves, cut in thin strips or whole. Leave them for one more minute to simmer and remove from the fire. Pour on the cooked gnocchi and garnish with some fresh sage. Serve immediately.

COOKING THE GNOCCHI: cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water. When they’re ready, they’ll come drifting to the surface (this usually takes just a couple of minutes).

Remove the gnocchi from the water with a skimmer and put them in a big bowl. Cover with the sauce, mix well and serve with grated Parmigiano cheese.

Added on Nov. 2nd, 08:

1) as my sister Francy suggested in the comments, the potatoes don't actually even need to be peeled. Putting them still piping hot in the ricer and mashing them will give you a wonderful fluffy puree while the skins stay in the ricer! Grazie sister! :)

2) *as the kind cooks at We Are Never Full suggested in the comments, the best potatoes for gnocchi in the States are the Yukon Gold ones. Thanks guys, I've never tried them but now I surely know what to use next time I'll make gnocchi in your beautiful country! :)

Comments

[maryann]

You did a beautiful job! I LOVE the video!

[Nicoletta]

Maryann, thank you very much, I feel very honored you're the first one to comment on this! Big kiss, N.

[francy]

ed io sono la seconda, olè!
quant'è bella e brava mia sorella! (sono di parte?):)
Lo sapevi che le patate possono essere schiacciate ancora calde senza togliere la buccia? Quest'ultima resta nello schiacciapatate e nella ciotola hai solo la patata!
Francy

[Valentina]

Grazie chef! E... "Ad astra"!
Valentina

[Nicoletta]

Francy, geniale, non lo sapevo! Adesso lo aggiungo alle istruzioni, grazie! :)

[Nicoletta]

Sv, grazie a te! E il "per aspera" lo lasciamo a qualcun altro! ;)

[We Are Never Full]

this one of the most satisfying meals ever. me and my husband often make this because it is super easy and SO delicious! the potato really is the key - like you said "starchy" - here in the US the best potato to use is Yukon Gold.

[Nicoletta]

Thank you very much, We Are, it's like you read my mind! This morning I was thinking that I suggested very typical Dutch potatoes but that maybe people in other countries would not know them. Thanks a million for suggesting this! :)

[mummy]

sono fierissima di avere due figlie così brave, una per i dolci e l'altra per la cucina, ma sopratutto di te che sei ormai famosa. Bravissima. baci. mummy

[Marie]

Nicoletta, I loved your video!! I would watch them all, please do more! You did an incredible job!
Hugs, Marie

[Nicoletta]

@Mummy: ahahahah, cuore di mamma! :) Grazie, un bacio!

@Marie: thank you Marie, your words are very encouraging! :) Big hug to you too!

[Villia]

Darling what a great Video.
I loved it. It made me want to run out and buy the stuff to make gnocchi myself :)

[Nicoletta]

@Villia: thanks dear, I'll take your compliments with a "pinch of salt"! ;)

[Paola]

Awesome video again, Nicoletta! Bravo to you!

The recipe looks mouthwatering. I have never made fresh gnocchi before and because you make it seems so simple, I shall give it a go!

Paola

PS: Dutch television NEEDS you!!

[Nicoletta]

Grazie Paola :)

[title bond]

Fantastico!

[MediaFire]

Absolutely wonderful, thank you so much!

I did want to ask something related though, do you know how well gnocchi lasts in the freezer? of course fresh is always better. But It would be great to cook up a big batch
and freeze some.

Please let me know your thoughts. Again thank you so much, you done a wonderful job :)

[Nicoletta]

Hi there. :) You can definitely freeze them and the best thing to do is, as you said, cook them first and then freeze them without sauce or anything, just a little olive oil to prevent them from sticking. Once you want to eat them plunge them FROZEN into boiling salted water, leave them to defrost in the water and warm up completely and enjoy! :)