Gnocchi with Red Meat Sauce

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Well, I made gnocchi last night for the first time. I’ve got to say, it is definitely a labor of love. Takes quite a bit of work to pull the whole thing together. I followed this recipe for shaping and forming the gnocchi. Instead of making concave and “swirly” gnocchis with “fins” or “grooves”, this recipe makes pillow shaped gnocchi with a dimple in the middle to catch the sauce.


Gnocchi with Red Meat Sauce

Sauce Ingredients

4 Italian sausages, cut into medallions
3 cans crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup Moscato wine
3 cloves minced garlic
10 large mushrooms, sliced
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 tbsp Italian seasoning

Gnocchi Ingredients

5 medium sized potatoes, unpeeled
1 cup all purpose flour
1 egg, well beaten

Sauce Preparation

In a large skillet, brown the Italian sausage medallions. You’ll need to turn the sausage often to brown all sides. It’s easiest to just shake the pan around to “swirl” the sausage around. Once browned, set aside in a covered bowl to keep warm.

Use 1/4 of the wine to deglaze the pan. Add onions and sauté on medium heat till tender. Add garlic and sauté 1 - 2 minutes (do not burn!). Add remaining wine to deglaze the pan once more.

Now add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, mushrooms, and sausage. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 1 hour or more.

Gnocchi Preparation

Boil the potatoes whole and unpeeled for 45 minutes or until tender when pierced. Drain and let cool for 10 minutes, or until you can handle them comfortably. Peel the potatoes and then “mash” or break apart with a fork. You can use a potato ricer here if you have one…..but I didn’t

Put the mashed/shredded potatoes into a large bowl and form a well. In the well, add the flour. Make another well in the flour and then add the well beaten egg. Begin mixing this together with a fork. Once it begins coming together, use a larger tool such as a potato masher, wooden spoon, or your well greased hands.

Work the dough into a large ball that is consistent and slightly firm. Try not to over-work it, but do make sure it is consistent throughout and sticking together firmly. Pick off a clump of dough about the size of a small lemon.

Roll Out: On a floured surface, roll that ball of dough out into a long thin strand about 1/2 inches in diameter. Cut the strand into 1 inch “pillows”. Use your pinky (smallest finger) or the end of a wooden spoon to press down in the middle of each pillow to make a dent. You’ll need to flour or grease your finger to keep it from sticking. Place the finished gnocchi dumpling on a cookie sheet (it helps to use a fork to lift the gnocchi one at a time off the floured surface).

Repeat the “Roll Out” step until you have either used all the dough up, or you have made enough gnocchis for your meal.

Cooking: Once all the gnocchi has been made, start a large pot of well salted water to boil. When it reaches a rolling boil, add 8 – 10 gnocchi dumplings at a time. They are done once they begin to float. Once all gnocchi are floating, remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon. You should remove them to a colander that is placed over another bowl so that they can drain.

Repeat the “Cooking” step until all gnocchi have been cooked. Each time a new batch is ready, transfer the drained gnocchi from your colander to a large bowl, and then place the new gnocchi in the colander so that they can drain as you cook a new batch. Keep the “finished gnocchi” in a covered bowl.


Notes

Once all the gnocchi has been cooked, you’re ready to eat if your sauce has simmered for an hour or so. If you started the sauce first, and then made the gnocchi, then your sauce has indeed simmered for an hour or more!

Plate 8 or so gnocchi on the plate. I like to plate them in a circle and leave a small gap in the center where I can pile on the sausage and mushroom. Drizzle sauce all over the gnocchis and then serve. I like garlic bread and broccoli and cheese with this.

This recipe is how I did it for the first time. I used 5 medium potatoes and that was too much! I should have used only 3. That would also require a reduction in the flour to about 3/4 cup or so. I had about half of my gnocchi dough left over after having made a cookie sheet full of gnocchis (about 50 – 60). 5 medium potatoes will make nearly 100 or more gnocchis, so take that into consideration.

The Moscato wine is a very “wet” (sweet) wine that added nice flavor. Most will add sugar to their sauces, but in using a Moscato, you don’t need to. If you don’t like a subtle sweet taste to your sauce, then use a drier white wine of your choosing (Chardonnay for example).

Here are some pics.

15ckenl.jpg



x2nrf5.jpg
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Ok, now that the recipe has been posted, a few confessions.

This recipe requires quite a bit of work. As I was nearing the end of this, I told DW “I hope you HATE this recipe”!!!

If she hated it, I wouldn’t ever have to make it again. :yum:

She LOVED it. :shock: :pat:

Our neighbor came over shortly after our dinner, and everything was still warm, so I made him a small plate. He LOVED it. :shock: :shock:

The sauce was not bad at all to make, and I really liked it. I’ll definitely use this version again (with Moscato wine) on pasta.

But making all those gnocchis……… :w00t:
 

suziquzie

New member
Was this your first attempt at it? They look great!
My first try was a nightmare..... all those gnocchis took so long to make.... I put them in the water, i guess I didn't have enough flour, they ALL fell apart and turned back into mashed potatoes.
:(
2nd try was MUCH better, and the kids managed to hate it anyway.
I may just stop cooking one day.
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
awesome job on those... they look delicious

yes they are very labor intensive but they taste so good...

when i decide i want to make them, my mom and i get together and make a whole day of it. some for that night and freeze the rest..
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Was this your first attempt at it? They look great!
My first try was a nightmare..... all those gnocchis took so long to make.... I put them in the water, i guess I didn't have enough flour, they ALL fell apart and turned back into mashed potatoes.
:(
2nd try was MUCH better, and the kids managed to hate it anyway.
I may just stop cooking one day.

Yep, this was my first time doing gnocchi. Good Lord! They do indeed take quite a bit of time to make!! I saw a recipe where Mario Batali makes the gnocchis, puts them in an ice bath, then oils and freezes them for future use. Maybe that is the way to go? Doing sauce and then gnocchis all at once really wears you out. Heck, by the time you get through just making gnocchis you're ready to sit down and order take-out! :yum:
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
when i decide i want to make them, my mom and i get together and make a whole day of it. some for that night and freeze the rest..

That sounds like the best way to go! Make the gnocchis early, well before you want to eat. Then take a break and make dinner later! :lol:
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
when we make a bunch of them for freezing we coat a cookie sheet with flour, lay them in a single layer and freeze. when they are hard, put in a freezer bag.. no need to do what Mario Batali does...lol
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
when we make a bunch of them for freezing we coat a cookie sheet with flour, lay them in a single layer and freeze. when they are hard, put in a freezer bag.. no need to do what Mario Batali does...lol

Great tip! Thanks!
 

suziquzie

New member
when we make a bunch of them for freezing we coat a cookie sheet with flour, lay them in a single layer and freeze. when they are hard, put in a freezer bag.. no need to do what Mario Batali does...lol

:clap::clap:
yes thank you! I can make them and freeze them until my children go ELSEWHERE for dinner some night!
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
Great tip! Thanks!

your quite welcome

:clap::clap:
yes thank you! I can make them and freeze them until my children go ELSEWHERE for dinner some night!

your welcome... i live in a predominately italian community... gnocchi is a once a week things at italian restaurants here...some italian thing..lol

had to learn to make them early in life because i dont just want them on monday nights..lol
 

AllenOK

New member
Welcome to the world of restaurant cooking!

The only real differences between cooking at home and cooking in a restaurant, are prep, and storage of prepped items.

I agree with Bam. Make a day of it. Prep a bunch, portion, and freeze for later use. This is how we do things where I work. Heck, if you read some of Mario Batalli's cookbooks, that's how he does things as well. He has a couple prep cooks come in during the morning, prep some homemade pasta, then it gets portioned and frozen for use the following nights.
 

Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
I don't know why :bonk::bonk:, but I've just got to try making some gnocchi. I can find the dried in the box, had those and don't like them. I can't find frozen or fresh. So.......I'm going to try later this week. I'm thinking some kind of different sauce though because we're having spaghetti tonight, don't know what yet.
 

chowhound

New member
I saw an awesome looking sauce made on TV today, Cooksie. And he served it with gnocchi. I'll PM you the link after I hunt it up so as not to clutter K's post with other recipes.
And I much prefer frozen to fresh, but I've never had homemade gnocchi. Worth a try sometime.
 

Phiddlechik

New member
Do any of you make it with something other than potatoes? I use fresh ricotta. Would like to also try it with squash or sweet potatoes.
 

Cooksie

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Do any of you make it with something other than potatoes? I use fresh ricotta. Would like to also try it with squash or sweet potatoes.

I did see the ricotta gnocchi yesterday when I was reading up on how to do this. What I read said that the ricotta gnocchi is a little more forgiving/easier to make than the potato. If I spend all that time making them, and they cook to pieces in the water, I will be po'd.
 

Phiddlechik

New member
I've got some pics on my blog... was going to try and post them here, but since I've taken them I have cleaned up my iPhoto and they are on a disc... somewhere...
 
Top