NYAWK-KEE. The Italian “gn” combination is difficult for many people to pronounce and I’ve noticed a widespread mispronunciation of gnocchi among Americans in particular (who often say “no-kee”). While it is a little time consuming, gnocchi might be easier to make than it is to say. Last night I had the long awaited gnocchi di zucca (i.e., pumpkin or winter squash), homemade nonetheless, which is an an alternative to traditional potato gnocchi and one that I prefer. It was so good that it almost eased my bad mood. Although not quite.
To make it, first peel the pumpkin and steam until it is soft (you can also steam it in the microwave).
In the meantime, flour the kitchen bench (or using a bowl would be fine), and when the pumpkin is ready, mash it onto the floured area. You can use a potato masher if that helps.
Next, add, flour, one egg, more flour, and some salt. You don’t need too much salt because the gnocchi is a little sweet, and, in the meantime, you should be boiling well salted water for later.
Massage additional flour into the pumpkin and egg mixture until it results in a sticky, dough-like texture. The batter should not be watery but you also shouldn’t over flour it. More or less, it should look like this, but, of course, the flour will be all mixed in.
Next, drop little balls of the gnocchi dough into boiling water. When they begin to float, it is an indication that they are cooked, however, you should sample one to make sure. You also may want to attempt to cook one gnocchi ball before dropping them all in the water to confirm that you’ve added enough flour. If you haven’t, the batter may fall apart in the water.
That’s it. Strain the gnocchi and serve. We made a simple gorgonzola sauce by adding some gorgonzola to a bit of milk and a splash of flour and mixing and simmering it for a couple minutes in a pan. You could also make what Italians call a white sauce–olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, and Parmesan.
In other news, the times they are a changin. It is a pretty interesting moment in Italian politics–the economist Super Mario Monti has replaced Bunga Bunga-ing Berlusconi as prime minister, sans election. Monti is expected to put together a cabinet of technocrats rather than politicians. Dare I say, there might be an arm of government without corruption? That remains to be seen, but I think people are cautiously optimistic and perhaps installing someone with true economic experience will aid in the rescue of Italy from its debt problems and ease the strain on the European economy. Unfortunately, that might not be ideal for my future job prospects, since I (used to) work on the floor where companies go to die, as someone once said to me as I stepped out of the lift. In my opinion, they come for life saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Anyhow, let’s see how it goes.
I leave Italy the day after tomorrow to meet Akane in Paris for the weekend. We have both agreed that 90% of the weekend will revolve around food, so there should be plenty to report on.
365bitesaroundtheworld 