Gnocchi with Mushroom Ragu

Happy New Year!

I swear that 2013 flew by- I'm not entirely sure what happened but I think it was 2012 and then I blinked and it was 2014.  So much has happened this year - particularly in this little blog space.  This is my 210th post.  That's ridiculous considering that I started this thing in February, I'm pretty proud of myself for posting fairly consistently.  I've been able to make some baked goods that I've been wanting to try for years like croissants, doughnuts and macarons. I have loved almost every second of it. Not everything has been delicious and there have been a few disasters... like when I made a Carmel Nut Tart and dropped the crust on the floor and burned my arm and the caramel in the span of 1 minute... or when I made marshmallows eggs and thought silver leaf was silver leaf gelatin.  Good times.  Surprisingly, only one of those posts made it into the top 3 most viewed posts of the year.

#1 by a landslide is Vanilla Macarons - This post has had nearly 1,200 page views which blows my mind!  Macarons are very trendy right now and I'm pretty sure that people are searching for the Bouchon Bakery Vanilla Macaron recipe and click my link in the Google search only to be frustrated that I don't post recipes from the Bouchon Bakery cookbook.  Sorry folks, I enjoy my freedom.

#2 is Oreo Biscotti with almost 600 page views - I'm always shocked with how much people like Oreo Cookies and anything that you put Oreo Cookies in.  This is a pretty great recipe so I don't blame them.

#3 only a handful of page views behind #2 is Crock Pot Turkey Breast - WEIRD! People must really like crock pot recipes.  That or they have every intention of making a crock pot recipe because they are lured in by the convenience and hands off approach but they never actually make it because it gets lost in their Pinterest account hidden by all the Oreo Cookie recipes.

Enough about the past, I now present to you a new recipe for your enjoyment...

I love Gnocchi - I definitely prefer it to regular pasta.  When it's made well it's lighter and fluffier than pasta with all the same benefits of being a vehicle for sauce and cheese.  I found this recipe on the Food & Wine website one Saturday when I was really craving some warm comfort food.  Gnocchi hits the spot every time.

The gnocchi here are very traditional - potatoes combined with eggs, cheese and flour to create a soft dough.  I cheated a little bit and microwaved the potatoes instead of baking them which ended up OK, but I think the texture would have been a bit fluffier if I'd actually followed the directions and baked the potatoes in the oven.  Unfortunately, I didn't have time for that business because I was hungry and adding another hour to prep time wasn't happening.

The dough gets turned out onto a floured surface and kneaded for a few minutes before rolling it into a big long snake.  That gets cut into pieces and pressed with a fork to make little indention on each piece.

The gnocchi get boiled for just a few minutes until they float to the surface of the water.

There is a restaurant in DC called Filomena which my family has been going to for decades and there are these sweet little ladies who stand and make fresh pasta and gnocchi in the window all day.  I admire their stamina because I was tired from making just a few servings of gnocchi.

Oddly enough this restaurant is obsessed with holidays and they decorate for Halloween like nobody's business.  It's really quite horrifying to eat your light, fluffy, delicious gnocchi while being stared at by a clown holding a butcher knife but it's totally worth if because the food is amazing.  I hear they also decorate for Christmas which I'm hopeful is less frightening.  My gnocchi were not nearly as fluffy or perfect as those found in the restaurant but they still quite good - although I wouldn't say they were worth being stared at by a giant spider with evil yellow eyes for two hours.

My favorite part of this dish was the sauce.  I hated mushrooms until a couple of years ago when I ate them until I forced myself to like them and it's dishes like this that make me so glad I did.  The sauce was meaty and hearty and full of flavor but it did not overpower the delicate flavors of the gnocchi.  This sauce is a great way to eat a vegetarian dish where it's so hearty you don't miss the meat at all.  I definitely plan to make the sauce again, even if I don't have time to make fresh gnocchi - it would be great over pasta or rice or a grilled chicken breast.  I really enjoyed it!

CA really liked this dish too - he wasn't entirely excited about having gnocchi for dinner as he wasn't "feelin' it" but he totally recanted his statement when he tried it.

Gnocchi with Mushroom Ragu
Recipe courtesy of Food & Wine
8 Servings

Ingredients

For the Gnocchi 
4 Baking Potatoes
2 T Butter, melted
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 Egg Yolk, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
Pinch of Nutmeg
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour

For the Ragu
2 T Butter
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1 1/2 lb mixed Mushrooms (quartered if large) 
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
2 Shallots, minced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 tsp Thyme
1/2 cup Dry White Wine
1/4 cup Chicken Stock

Instructions


To Make the Gnocchi
Preheat the oven to 375°.  Bake the potatoes for 1 hour, until tender; let cool slightly. Peel the potatoes and pass them through a ricer into a bowl or mash with a potato masher or fork. Stir in the butter, egg, egg yolk, salt, pepper, nutmeg and 1/2 cup of cheese and let cool.

Lightly dust a baking sheet with flour. Sprinkle the 1 1/4 cups of flour over the potato mixture and gently knead until the flour is almost incorporated. Scrape the dough onto a floured work surface and gently knead until smooth. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll out 1 piece of the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rope. Cut the rope into 1-inch pieces and transfer the gnocchi to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. Roll each gnocchi against the tines of a fork to make ridges. Cover the gnocchi with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes.

To make the Mushroom Ragu
In a large skillet, melt  the butter and the oil. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until tender and just browned, about 7 minutes. Add the shallots, garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook until nearly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock and season the ragu with salt and pepper; keep warm over low heat.

To cook the Gnocchi & Serve
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add half the gnocchi and simmer over moderately high heat until they rise to the surface, then simmer until cooked through, about 2 minutes longer. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi to a serving bowl. Cook the remaining gnocchi. Spoon the ragu over the gnocchi and serve, passing grated cheese at the table.

Enjoy!

Julie