Month: May 2015

recipe one: THE BASIC POTATO GNOCCHI

Image ~ ~ mom ~ Leave a comment

Now that you met “girl” and she has brought you all up to speed about our journey, its time for me, “mom” to level set everyone.  What is this gnocchi fixation all about and where is the starting point of this journey?

My brother & I grew up with my dad’s potato gnocchi dish served most times on Sundays but sometimes also during the week if it was a special occasion.  Either my mom would make them or my dad would, but we knew that it was my dad’s influence on the recipe that made them perfect.

It always started with 3 basic ingredients:  white flour, potatoes and an egg.  The secret to the recipe, as any good cook would know, is how you handle the dough when you are bringing these ingredients together; less is better.  The more you handle it, the tougher the dough will become and that pillowy, melt in your mouth feeling will be compromised.

So here is how it goes:

  • 2 cups of all purpose flour
  • 2-3 boiled and peeled potatoes* (cooled, peeled and mashed)
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • salt to taste

Start by creating a well with the flour on a board

Crack the fresh egg into the center and add the potatoes, olive oil and salt to the egg

The well
The flour well

Start pulling in the flour a little at a time, mixing all the ingredients together until well blended, handling gently, until you form a ball (might be a little sticky – that is ok, you can add a little bit of flour to help with that – just proceed slowly – you don’t want to end up with hard dough – that would require a do-over)

Sprinkle flour on the table/mixing board and flatten out the ball. But not too flat.  Cut into strips and roll, then 1” cubes.  Press each cube of dough on a fork to create the curve and the lines.

Pressing cubes of dough against the fork for the unique gnocchi shape and texture
Pressing cubes of dough against the fork for the unique gnocchi shape and texture

Add to boiling water, just like you are making any kind of pasta.  They will drop to the bottom of the pot.  When the gnocchi bubble up to the top of the boiling water, drain, top with your favorite sauce and serve with parmigano reggiano cheese.

This recipe will serve 3-4 people, depending on how much people eat and how big the potatoes are.  With my father, no recipe was ever exact “a little of this, a little of that”.

That's Sauce!
That Sauce!

*the best potato to use for gnocchi is either Idaho or Russet as they are less water based

review two: IL SALUMAIO

~ girl ~ Leave a comment

My brother and I both live on the Upper East Side, and we’ve prided ourselves in trying every decent restaurant in the three block vicinity.  Our favorite thus far has been a pizza place called San Matteo on 90th and 2nd… the pizza is absolutely unreal and tastes like something you’d get in Italy (having studied abroad in Florence, I know a thing or two about good pizza).  Anyways, the same owner also has a place a couple doors down from San Matteo called Il Salumaio – when I attempted to order gnocchi at San Matteo, the waiter kindly pointed me in Il Salumaio’s direction and told me to go there instead.  Challenge accepted.

Il Salumaio is a small hole-in-the-wall wine bar directly across from the apartment I’d lived in for 15 months.  I never thought much of it until my run in with the San Matteo waiter, which I am very grateful for now.  Off the bat, I was impressed with the menu, while it wasn’t extensive, it did offer all the right things for me at the time… especially when it came to gnocchi.  I order the Gnocchi alla Sorrentina.  Here’s the scoop….

  • Unlike the ricotta gnocchi I order at Uva, this gnocchi had a potato base, SO I wasn’t necessarily expecting it to “melt” in my mouth so to speak.  For me, it was a very good consistency for a potato gnocchi.  A little background here – I grew up eating potato based gnocchi and my standards are very, very high.  While it was not as good as Grandpa’s, I respected this gnocchi.
  • I was very impressed with the sauce.  In my experience, restaurants have trouble getting the sauce right… Il Salumaio had no trouble.  I LOVED this sauce.
  • What was special about this dish was it was prepared like any other potato gnocchi dish, then topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmigano reggiano, BUT here’s the twist, it was then put in the oven in an iron skillet and baked to perfection.  The cheese was perfectly melted and the top was toasted and browned JUST enough.  Great execution by Il Salumaio.
  • Last thing I’d add is there was a lot of cheese, but not too much.  The mozzarella draped the pasta, yes, but it was not overbearing.  The parmigano reggiano topped the mozzarella perfectly.
  • My Rating: THAT SAUCE! I’d get this again.

I’d end this post by saying I really enjoyed the gnocchi at Il Salumaio.  With that said, if I had a gun to my head and needed to choose between the gnoochi at Il Salumaio or the pizza at San Matteo, admittedly, I’d go with the pizza… it’s just that good.

Il Salumaio address: 1731 2nd Ave

Website: ilsalumaiony.com

San Matteo address: 1739 2nd Ave

Website: sanmatteopanuozzo.com

review one: UVA

~ girl ~ Leave a comment

For over a year now, I’ve had a goal to eat at the elusive Italian restaurant, Uva, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan but for one reason or another, I never made it happen… until last night.  Needless to say, I had huge expectations; this place had been talked up by almost everyone I knew on the UES as the best Italian restaurant the area had to offer.  We got there around 8 pm and had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated (party of two).  The ambiance was unbelievable and the menu was loaded with authentic Italian dishes, all with names my Irish boyfriend sounded very silly pronouncing.  I was in Italian cuisine heaven, but of course, one dish immediately caught my eye: Gnocchi di Ricotta served in a creamy black truffle and chive sauce.  Here’s the scoop….

  • The gnocchi itself was sub-par, it didn’t do it for me.  It was too dense, not pillowy and fluffy, and didn’t fall apart in my mouth like I so wanted it to.  I couldn’t even taste that it was made of ricotta.
  • The sauce was okay.  I’m a sucker for truffle oil, which it didn’t lack at all.  However, the cream was too rich and the cheese seemed a bit heavy for me. I would recommended NOT ordering this if you’re trying to avoid dairy in any capacity.
  • Overall, I’d say go with something else on the menu other than the gnocchi.  The place has amazing reviews but the gnocchi didn’t live up to them.
  • My Rating: Meh. Too creamy.

I know I’m a harsh critic when it comes to gnocchi but I do want to make clear that the restaurant itself had a lot of other amazing things to offer on the menu.  The service there was also unbelievable.  I would 100% go back but order the Eggplant Parm, which looked fabulous.

Uva address: 1486 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10075

Website: uvanyc.com

a journey

~ girl ~ Leave a comment

Hi, I am a girl who is obsessed with gnocchi.  It’s been approximately 16 hours since my last gnocchi fix (I went to Uva on the Upper East Side last night, more on that later).  As the granddaughter of an Italian immigrant and esteemed chef, I have been privy to the best gnocchi in the world since I was able to properly pronounce ‘gnocchi’.  I simply cannot get enough of it; as such, I have chosen to document my continued and unrelenting journey to find the best gnocchi, a gnocchi that rivals my grandfather’s, a gnocchi that both maintains it’s pillowy structure on a dish but successfully melts in a buttery, sagey, tomatoey abyss once it reaches your mouth.  I have enlisted my mother, “mom”, to help as we journey from restaurant to trattoria to bistro to everything in between in search of the perfect gnocchi dish; she too is a gnocchi aficionado as well as an excellent cook and daughter of said chef grandfather and like me, she never turns down the opportunity to order gnocchi when it’s offered on any menu (be it Italian or otherwise).  Together we will find the best gnocchi in the world and trust me, it’s no small feat…