Potato Gnocchi with Chive & Dill in Taleggio Cream Sauce
This actually looks nearly identical to the picture in the book
Time: 5 Hours
Ingredient Availability: 3/5
Difficulty: 2/5
I’ve had gnocchi only a few times in my life and I didn’t really find it to be anything special. It was really just a thick and more bread like version of pasta from my experience. This recipe not only gives me the opportunity to make gnocchi from scratch, but also one that has other flavorings rolled right into it. The sauce is interesting because it uses a cheese that I’ve never heard of before: Taleggio.
Key Ingredients & Omissions:
Surprisingly, I was able to find everything that this recipe calls for. I was almost certain I wouldn’t be able to find the taleggio, but I did find it at a Whole Foods near me. I had potato starch, another obscure ingredient, from an earlier recipe, but it is also available at Whole Foods. I still took away 2 points in the ingredient availability category because I wouldn’t be surprised if others had a hard time finding those two ingredients. Luckily, the recipe gives some substitutions including gorgonzola, cheddar, and gouda.
Tools:
Grater
Sharp Knife
Stand Mixer (optional)
Ricer, food mill, or fine mesh strainer
Cooking Review:
Prep: 1 Hour
I put a wire rack over a baking sheet and placed the potatoes that I pricked a few times with a fork on the rack. The potatoes were put in the oven to roast for an hour while I worked on preparing the other ingredients. I grated the parmigiano reggiano , cut the taleggio into smaller pieces, and chopped the garlic, chives, and dill. I put them in the refrigerator until I needed them later. The prep other than roasting the potatoes took about 30 minutes.
Cool, Rice Potatoes, & Mix: 57 minutes
I let the potatoes cool for 30 minutes before peeling them and pressing the flesh through a fine mesh strainer. You can use a food mill or a ricer if you have them, which will probably save you some tome. Next, I put the potatoes into the bowl of the stand mixer along with the treated parmigiano reggiano, flour, potato starch, salt, peppers and garlic powder. I mixed that with the paddle attachment on low until just combined before adding the chives, dill, and egg, mixing again on low until combined.
Form & Refrigerate Gnocchi: 2 Hours 30 minutes (min. 1 hour refrigeration)
To form the gnocchi, I scooped out about a third of the dough onto a liberally floured surface and topped the dough with more flour. The dough is sticky, so don’t be shy with the flour. I rolled the dough out into a log that was about a foot long and an inch thick before repeating with the remaining dough. I used a bench scraper to cut the dough into individual gnocchi, about an inch long. I transferred them to a lightly floured baking sheet and refrigerated them for about 2 hours and 20 minutes, but the recipe says a minimum of an hour. You’re supposed to cover the gnocchi before putting them in the refrigerator, but I missed that step.
Sauce: 26 Minutes
While I had a pot of salted water coming to a boil, I made the sauce. In a pot, I melted the butter on medium high heat and added the garlic, pepper, and salt. After a minute or so, the garlic was browning and fragrant, so I added the heavy cream and creme fraiche. I mixed those two together until smooth and reduce the heat to medium low. It took about 16 minutes for the sauce to reduce to about a third the volume with large bubbles. The recipe somehow gets this done in 5 minutes. Finally, I add the remaining parmigiano reggiano and the cut up taleggio to the sauce and whisk it until it’s all melted together before setting it aside.
Cook Gnocchi & Finish: 12 minutes
Once the water had come to a boil, I started to cook the gnocchi in batches. After about 2 minutes, the gnocchi started to float, signaling that they were ready to be transferred to the pot with the sauce. I had a total of 3 batches. After the last batch, I returned the pot of sauce & gnocchi to the heat on medium low, stirring to coat the gnocchi and letting it come to a simmer for a couple of minutes before plating.
Analysis:
The first thing that I noticed with this dish is how soft the gnocchi is. While there are some slightly crunchy parts from the chives and dill, they are super soft and smooth for the most part. The sauce is just as smooth as the gnocchi, with a lot of creaminess, which is to be expected. As far as the flavors go, I enjoyed them. The taleggio has a very unique flavor, which is clearly discernible, but also mellowed out by the heavy cream and creme fraiche. The dill & chive are also present throughout the flavor profile, which works well with the sauce in general. The only thing I would say is missing is a protein to add another textural element. I think some well seasoned chicken would go nicely in this pasta. Honestly, I think the sauce would be good on just about any pasta and the gnocchi would go will with many different sauces, so these two don’t necessarily need to go together. I’m going to give this recipe a 8/10. It’s like a very fancy version of a Mac & cheese. I think the end result is mostly worth the effort and time, but it doesn’t blow me away.
