A different take on gnocchi this time. Not fried, these soft, pillowey, potatoey mouthfuls of joy in the rich sauce went so much better than I thought it would. Simple as to make the sauce, the key is a bit of pancetta or bacon to build the base flavour.
I haven’t gone into any detail about how to make the gnocchi in this recipe, only the sauce. My method for making gnocchi can be found here:
https://sebcooks.blogtown.co.nz/2020/03/25/gnocchi/
Can’t think of anything else to say, but definitely recommend trying this!
Gnocchi with red wine and mushrooms
Serves: 3
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes (but making the gnocchi will take extra time)
Ingredients:
Half a brown onion
100g of pancetta or bacon
300g of mushrooms (your choice)
1 tsp capers
50-75mL red wine
3 serves of gnocchi (about 100g of potato each)
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
~2 Tbsp starchy water from the gnocchi
Basil – as many leaves as you can afford
Parmesan or pecorino to serve
Instructions:
- Cook the gnocchi and reserve some of the starchy salted water. I think it’s best to avoid putting all the gnocchi in a bowl as they tend to squash the at the bottom and continue to cook. So maybe put them on a large plate or other flat surface (a clean chopping board?).
- Finely dice the onions, and bacon/pancetta. Slice the mushrooms.
- In a large pan over medium-high heat, add the onions and bacon/pancetta in a small amount of olive oil. The fat from the bacon/pancetta will render out so don’t overdo it at the start with the olive oil.
- After a few minutes add the mushrooms and capers, fry for a few more moments, then add the red wine – a decent splash, about 50mL or more if you think, but we don’t want too much liquid in the pan at this stage. Add a bit of your starchy water now, about two tablespoons. There should now be a small amount of liquid in the bottom of the pan and it’ll be a little bit thickened from the starches.
- Once the mushrooms are cooked (a couple more minutes), add the gnocchi to the pan with the rest of your olive oil and turn the heat up. Saute to allow the sauce to thicken a bit. At this point, taste, and salt if required – avoid over-salting too early due to the intrinsic salt from the bacon/pancetta. Add a decent bit of pepper.
- Remove from the heat and stir through some fresh basil.
- Serve topped with pecorino or parmesan with some extra basil and olive oil.
Concluding remarks: None. Pls try it.