April 16, 2020
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April 16, 2020
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I am sharing something a little different today. With the children back to ‘home’ school this week (how is that going for you?!) I haven’t had a chance to photograph a new recipe.
First, I am revisiting handmade potato gnocchi, a recipe I wrote for NZ Life & Leisure – Living Lightly (2019). Gnocchi is one of my all-time favourite comfort foods. We made it for lunch this week and my two loved helping roll and cut the gnocchi. In the recipe, I simply boil the gnocchi and serve with classic crispy sage, but it can also be pan-fried after boiling in a little butter. Yum!
+ Scroll down for more autumn recipes – with some 300 recipes on Homegrown Kitchen shared over the last 8 years (longer if you count my original recipe website started in 2004) there is plenty of autumn recipe goodness to try. I have included links to favourites below. And I would love to hear what your favourite Homegrown Kitchen recipes are too, either from my website or cookbooks. Add a comment below or send me an email me.
Potato Gnocchi with Crispy Sage
Soft pillows of potato gnocchi require gentle handling to keep them voluminous while they cook. Use the least amount of flour possible to achieve this, and choose floury potatoes such as agria for best results.
Servings 3 as a light meal
Ingredients
- About 600g agria potatoes
- olive oil and salt
- 1 free-range egg
- 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
- pinch of nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1¼ -1 ½ cups flour + extra flour for rolling
- crispy sage to serve - see directions below
Instructions
Preheat oven to 190°C.
Scrub the potatoes and rub generously with olive oil and salt. Place in anoven dish and prick each potato a few times with a fork. Bake for 40-50minutes until the skin is puffy and the flesh is soft. Cool enough to handlethen halve potatoes and scoop out the floury flesh. Make crispy potato skins – find directions below.
In a large bowl mash the potato until very smooth (use a potato ricer if you have one). Make a well and add the egg, parmesan, nutmeg and salt, mix to combine. Add 1 cup flour and mixwell, gradually adding the remaining flour until it becomes a workabledough (the total flour quantity will depend on the moisture in thepotatoes).
Tip onto a floured bench and divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll each into long 1.5cm thick cylinders then cut into 2cm lengths. Shape each by rolling over the back of a fork with a thumb to create an indent (or use a wooden gnocchi shaping board). Keep the gnocchi well floured at all times to prevent them from sticking together.
To cook, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Add 1 teaspoon of saltand cook the gnocchi in batches for 3-4 minutes until they rise to thesurface. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain in a colander. Serve immediately with olive oil or crispy sage leaves.
Crispy sage: heat 20g butter and 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil over a low to medium heat. Once melted add whole sage leaves to the oil. They will cook fast so be quick, using tongs to turn over until golden on both sides. Remove with a slottedspoon and scatter the leaves over the gnocchi + drizzle over the remaining butter and oil from the pan.
Notes
Crispy Potato Skins: Once the potatoes have been roasted and fleshscooped. Cut the remaining potato skins into wedges, brush with meltedbutter and scatter with salt. Arrange in a single layer on a baking tray andbake at 190°C for 10-12 minutes until crispy.
Autumn Favourites
Click on the images below for the recipes:
– I made this recently with smoked fish instead of fresh fish and it was also very good. And a great way to use up the end of a sourdough bread when a new one has just come out of the oven.
– I am just waiting for our feijoa trees to drop a few more fruit to make this. A simple lemon icing is also a nice topping.
Sourdough Pappardelle (pasta) with Creamy Thyme Mushrooms – A pasta machine does help when making fresh pasta, but it can also be made with a sturdy rolling pin and some elbow grease. Although I have to say a pasta machine was the best investment I made as a poor chef student 21 years ago.
– This is a simple crustless tart with a delicious Salted Caramel Pear Sauce (if you don’t want to make the tart I recommend at least making the sauce!).
Weeknight Curry: Homemade Curry Paste – This recipe includes a simple curry paste base; add fish, leftover chicken or autumn vegetables and chickpeas. I often make a double batch of the curry paste and freeze for a quick meal down the track.
Happy autumn cooking! Nicola
