Friday, January 14, 2011

FFwD: Gnocchi Parisienne


French Fridays with Dorie was, this week, a real winner!  But when you start with copious amounts of grated smoked Gouda and apple-smoked cheddar, plus a little Parmesan to boot, it's hard for a recipe to fail, right?

Also, since Mr. Boom had his two upper wisdom teeth removed yesterday afternoon, this was a nice soft treat.  


 Butter, salt, water.  Such a lowly beginning for a delicious meal.  The rules of the game say we can't share the recipe on our blogs, but the gnocchi in this recipe aren't potatoes, they're actually savory little cream puffs!  Any recipe you find online or on your bookshelf will work. 


Add flour all at once, and stir until you have a nice ball of dough in your pan.


 Add eggs one at a time and beat until your arm falls off.  I switched back and forth between using a wooden spoon and a silicon spatula.  The spoon was best at the initial incorporation of each egg, but the spatula worked well for getting all the dough homogeneous.


Scoop the batter into a pastry bag, and pipe little pieces into boiling water.  I found that by dipping the scissors into the boiling water every five or six snips helped to make a nice clean cut.  Alternatively, you can just scoop teaspoonful-sized bits into the water.


After boiling for a few minutes, the "gnocchi" are soft and pliable, but not rubbery at all.


Butter a baking dish and sprinkle with a little (or a lot!) of Parmesan cheese.


Make a bechamel sauce (butter, flour, salt, and milk).


 Spread a little sauce over the Parmesan, then add the gnocchi, then cover with (lots!) of cheese.


 Bake about 20 minutes until golden and bubbly.


 Serve hot and beware the onslaught of hungry zombies, or medication riddled wisdom-tooth-less members of the household.



12 comments:

  1. Terrific post. Your process photos are great and I love the baking dish you used. I also love the idea of putting the dough in a pastry bag. I shaped all of the gnocchi by hand with two teaspoons and it took a long time! Yours look perfect and beautiful. Glad this helped Mr. Boom after having his teeth pulled.

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  2. Great photos and love that dish! Your sauce looks so much nicer then mine. Mine was too thick. Did you cut down on the flour or add more milk?

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  3. Looks wonderful! Your cheeses sound fabulous! As I was making mine I thought "gee, it would probably be good to do these with a pastry bag"... did I - no! Yours look wonderful!

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  4. You're so accomplished Kat. Now have you done quick calorie count and a fat percentage on this one?? Still, helped poor Mr Boom hey!

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  5. I'm glad I ate right before viewing this or I'd be in an agony of desire right now.

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  6. Love that first photo!

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  7. Patticake~ I didn't actually follow the recipe in the book for the bechamel (white sauce, but bechamel sounds so much fancier!). Since I was in a rush, I just eyeballed the amounts and called it done. I hope this doesn't forfeit my standing in the group...let's just keep that bit of info between us!

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  8. Tanya~ I say this with love, but shut yer mouth, girl!!! This is french cooking, and we all know there isn't one single obese woman in France, so this must be calorie free. I refuse to give the matter any further thought and I think you should follow suit!

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  9. Mmmm, looks fantastic! This would totally be the perfect thing to eat when you need soft food (or really, any time!!). :)

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  10. Loved the baking dish! Lovely shots.

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  11. Great photos. The gnocchi look so much nicer when they're piped - I just used teaspoons and was happy that the misshapen blobs would be covered by sauce and cheese.

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  12. Wow, look at you and your fancy gnocchi. Hope your husband recovers from losing his wisdom teeth. I still need to get that done, but as an adult I know just how uncomfortable (painful!) it is going to be.

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