Our pals at Rio Vista Olives sent us the incredible oil that we cook with in this post. Like everything that we recommend on our blog, we use and love their products, and hope that you will too!
The Story
Pretty much the only thing better than a plate of stuffed and fried gnocchi, is a plate of bright purple stuffed and fried gnocchi. This week we’ve made a light dough out of roasted purple potatoes and filled it with creamy eggplant. Finished in a sage-infused butter and tossed in olive oil, they have a comfortingly subtle flavour, but with a bold hit of colour.
Gnocchi were a bit of a treat when I was a kid, not because they’re particularly difficult to make, but just because we rarely thought to make them. I still remember watching my Nonna’s wrinkled hands angling the gnocchi board, or more commonly the back of a fork, as she rolled their ridges. For at least my younger years, there was an air of mystique to creating such a perfect shape so casually on a random piece of cutlery. For this recipe though, there’s nothing too fiddly: we’re simply wrapping a disc of dough around some filling, before gently flattening it back out (so that we have more surface area to fry). Grab your favourite coloured potato, ideally a good one for mashing, and let’s get cooking.
The Pasta
This is a nice straightforward recipe, but it takes a little time to get everything roasted before you can start making pasta. Of course you can also steam or boil your potatoes, but note that sometimes boiling will leave them a bit waterlogged and require the addition of more flour. If your hands are up to it, peel the potatoes while they’re still warm, as the skins will come off easier.
Once you’ve riced the potatoes and mixed up your dough, give it a short knead of a couple of minutes. You want it to develop a good glutinous elasticity without becoming too firm – this will help when it comes to stretching and wrapping the dough around the filling. While it’s resting, scoop out the eggplant and blend up your filling, then load it into a piping bag.
To form the filled gnocchi, roll the dough into long thick sausages, and then chop them into roughly walnut-sized pieces. Alternatively just tear it into chunks.
Form each piece into a ball, rolling between your hands, and then flatten them into circles. Pipe a grape-sized dollop of filling into each, and then bring the edges up and around to meet in the centre. Give it a pinch to seal, and then gently re-flatten into plump discs. Store these on a lightly-floured surface until you’re ready to cook them, to prevent sticking.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, and heat the oil in a frypan. Drop the gnocchi into the pot and remove with a slotted spoon once they float. Blot dry. Quickly fry up the sage and then the gnocchi, flipping and cooking until they begin to brown. Plate up, drizzle with a little extra oil, and enjoy!
As always, we hope that our recipes at least give you some inspiration to make some pasta. If you ever have any questions or need some tips, we’re here for you!
Buon appetito,
– Al & Al.
Equipment
- Oven
- Potato ricer
- Piping bag with medium round tip (alternatively, you can use a teaspoon)
- Frypan
Ingredients
Pasta Dough
- 700 g Purple Bliss potatoes
- 25 g Romano cheese
- 150 g 00 flour
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 egg
Pasta Filling
- 1/2 eggplant
- Juice and zest of 1/4 lemon
- Salt to taste
- 25 g breadcrumbs
To Serve
- 1 tbsp clarified butter
- Handful of fresh sage leaves
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin (we used Rio Vista Olives’ Basil Pressed Agrumato); to substitute, add a small handful of basil leaves into the butter when frying the gnocchi
Instructions
- Roast the potatoes for 40 minutes, in a 200 degree Celsius oven. Once cool enough to handle but still warm, peel off the skins and pass through a potato ricer. Spread out to allow any excess moisture to evaporate. Raise the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
- Next, fold the cheese, flour, egg, and salt and pepper into the potato. Knead for 1-2 minutes, before wrapping in cling wrap and refrigerating for 30 minutes.
- While the dough rests, bake the eggplant at 220 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. Scoop out the flesh and drain any excess water; discard the skin.
- Blend the eggplant together with the lemon juice and zest, the breadcrumbs, and salt; transfer to a piping bag with a medium round tip.
- To prepare the gnocchi, form the dough into large walnut-sized balls, and then flatten into discs.
- Pipe a small dollop of filling into the centre and then bring the edges up to meet, forming a filled ball. Press gently to flatten slightly, keeping the dough join centred underneath the pasta. Transfer to lightly floured, baking paper-lined oven trays.
- To cook the gnocchi, drop them into a large pot of lightly salted boiling water. They should be ready when they float. Scoop out and drain, patting dry to remove any remaining water.
- Gently fry the sage leaves in the butter, on medium heat. Remove the leaves when they begin to crispen up, about 1-2 minutes, and then fry the gnocchi. Work in small batches, cooking until a light brown crust forms, and turning to brown each side.
- Toss in the olive oil, and serve with the fried sage leaves.
