Gnocchi with Arugula Pesto
July 02, 2008
Getting home late from work doesn't inspire me to cook some elaborate meal for dinner. Sometimes, even I look for shortcuts: frozen vegetables, frozen stuffed pastas, canned beans (aghast!). This penchant for cutting corners turned into a new gnocchi experiment. I've noticed that with my traditional gnocchi recipe, the little potato pillows are sort of mushy. Also, in the summertime, there is nothing worse than turning your oven on or boiling potatoes for 30 minutes. Besides - it's an energy drain. So in an effort to save time, energy, and my house from excruciating temperatures, I used the microwave. This may not be such a big deal for most people - the microwave is like a third appendage for many college students - but I hate the microwave and I almost never use the fancy built-in one in my kitchen. Last night was an exception, however.The common advise for preparing a good gnocchi (according to my many cookbooks) is that baking the potatoes is preferable to boiling them because the potato stays drier and the gnocchi will have a better texture. One recipe even recommended baking the potatoes on a layer of kosher salt (it promotes convection like cooking). At any rate, I was not about to put my oven on to 400 degrees to bake three little potatoes, so I decided to try nuking the potatoes instead. To my great surprise, it worked out nicely and the cooking time was a total of 10 minutes! The only thing I would add about this technique is that you should NOT poke holes in the potatoes, and try adding a moist kitchen towel on top of the potatoes for the last 3 or 4 minutes of nuking time. Below is my altered recipe for nuked potato gnocchi with a delicious arugula pesto. I have to confess that I totally forgot to add the pistachio nuts that were to be the base of this pesto (it is traditionally pine nuts), mea culpa. The pesto still tastes great without the pistachio nuts, but I will be sure to add them next time and blog about it.
"Nuked" Gnocchi
- 3 russet potatoes, nuked in the microwave for 10 minutes
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, whisked
- 1/2 tsp. nutmeg (or if using fresh nutmeg, grate 1/2 a nut)
- 1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 c flour (plus more for rolling/mixing dough)
Step One: After nuking the potatoes, remove the skins and shove the potatoes through a ricer. Create a well in the pile of potatoes and pour in the egg. Sprinkle around the cheese and nutmeg, as well as 1 cup of flour. Mix the dough by hand with a spatula, and add more flour if needed. Work the dough into a ball, but don't over-knead it. Dust it with flour.
Step Two: Cut the dough ball up into 6 sections. Roll each section out into a snake and cut it into 1 inch pieces to resemble pillows. Set aside the pieces on a floured cookie sheet.
Step Three: Place a handful of gnocchi in boiling water and cook until the pieces float to the top (about 1 minute). Remove with a slotted spoon and repeat until all the gnocchi is cooked.
Step Four: Toss the cooked gnocchi in the Arugula Pesto below. I served this dish over garlic sauteed french green beans. Delicious!
Arugula Pesto:
- 1 c of fresh arugula
- 1 handful of fresh basil
- 1 handful of fresh Italian parsley
- 2/3 c olive oil
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1/2 c Parmesan
- 1/2 c pistachio nuts (optional)
Step One: In a blender, toss in garlic, and greens. If you have the pistachios, add them now as well. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil from the top until the mixture become frothy and green. Pour in the Parmesan and continue blending. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Step Two: Spoon the mixture onto the gnocchi and toss.
You can freeze any leftover pesto, but it may discolor when you thaw it in the refrigerator. The pesto has a tangy bite to it thanks to the arugula. While I regret not adding the pistachios, the pesto still turned out quite will without them. For texture, leave some nuts whole.
2 Comments:
commented by 
Joe Horn, 8:14 AM
Joe Horn, 8:14 AM
Thanks for reading, Joe. I am printing off your recipe as I type and I can't wait to try this version of "gnocchi that's not gnocchi!"
Thanks so much!
Joe