Gnocchi, Step by Step!

Tonight's Jamie Oliver dinner was home made gnocchi with gorgonzola dolce sauce! I have to say, this was a hit. The recipe came from the "Jamie Cooks" cookbook and is something I'm totally going to make again!

First you bake 6 potatoes for an hour. Once they're out of the oven for about 10 minutes (but are still hot) you cut them in half and scoop out the potato into a ricer. Once you have all of your potatoes riced, add in a bit of nutmeg, fresh pepper, salt a handfull of flour and one egg yolk. Mix together the ingredients with your hands to form a dough. Tread lightly though as you don't want to make your end product too dense.

Once you have your dough ball, divide it into three separate balls and roll them out on a lightly floured surface by hand. Once you have a long roll (like a sausage) you can cut your individual gnocchi in about one inch lengths. I then put the gnocchi in the fridge for a few hours until we were ready for dinner. The gnocchi cooked in salted, boiling water in just a few minutes and they were perfect! (Of course, I did manage to overcook the first batch which essentially disentigrated into the cooking water-- but I had reserved extras and those cooked perfectly!)

The gorgonzola dolce sauce was also super easy and very tasty-- made with two tablespoons of gorgonzola dolce, 6 tablespoons of heavy cream and three tablespoons of butter (simmered over low heat)... I topped the gnocchi and gorgonzola sauce with chopped walnuts and served a side salad (with slices of d'anjou pear and goat cheese!) One word: YUM!