Gnocchi : Made From Scratch

Gnocchi. Little pillowy potato magic that when made and cooked properly would make you smile, and make your tummy very happy. (: Baby and I recently watched Masterchef Australia and saw Matt Moran’s dish of Gnocchi with burnt butter and sage and just couldn’t stop thinking about it. So we had to make it, and we had to make it for lunch today. hehe

Being ANZAC Day today, it was really difficult to get the ingredients we needed cause the supermarkets don’t open until 1pm. So we had to go to all the small marts to gather the ingredients and already that took a long while! There was a lot of prep work, and by the time we got lunch ready, it was already 230! But I think all the effort preparing the gnocchi was worth it! It was pretty yummy! hehe though we haven’t really had gnocchi at restaurants before, so there wasn’t a benchmark to compare it with! hehe But for a first attempt, it was pretty superbly yummy! hehe

so instead of the quail that Matt Moran had with his gnocchi, I made Nando’s roast chicken! (: It went pretty well! hehe although I’m very sure the quail would be better. But we had to substitute since we couldn’t get hold of the quail, plus, one quail would not be enough protein for the boys. haha

Here is the recipe adapted from Masterchef Australia, though to be honest, I made the gnocchi with “feel”. Didn’t follow the measurements, but use it as a guideline anyways! hehe (: ENJOY!

Potato Gnocchi with Burnt Butter and Sage

Ingredients :

750g royal blue potatoes, roasted

75g plain flour

1 egg yolk

salt and pepper

extra virgin olive oil for tossing

30ml vegetable oil

salt and pepper

30g salted butter, diced½ bunch

Sage (I used dried sage)

Steps :

1. Scrape out the inside of the potatoes. Mash the potato and then pass through a sieve.

My baby pressing the potatoes through the sieve.

how cute does it look after going through the sieve!? hehe

2. Combine the flour, egg and salt with the potato and work into dough.

two perfectly separated egg yolks (:

3. Roll the dough in a sausage shape (approximately 2cm in diameter). Cut the dough into 2cm wide discs.

4. Add the gnocchi to salted, boiling water. Cook until the gnocchi rises to the surface and then scoop out and refresh in iced water. Drain the gnocchi and then toss with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.

5. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and add in the gnocchi and caramelise until golden. Season to taste. Stir in diced butter until it starts to turn into a nutty brown colour. Add in the sage and remove from the heat.

Roasted Pumpkin

Ingredients :

1/2 butternut pumpkin

30ml vegetable oil

salt and pepper

Steps :

1. To prepare the pumpkin, peel and deseed the butternut pumpkin and then dice into 1cm cubes. Blanch in salted, boiling water for approximately 3 minutes, refresh in ice water and then drain.

2. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and then add in the pumpkin and seasoning. Cook until the pumpkin is caramelised and then remove.

Home-made Nando’s Chicken

Ingredients :

3 chicken maryland

Nando’s marinade (can get them from supermarkets or at Nando’s)

salt and pepper to season

Steps :

1. Preheat oven to 180-190 degrees celcius. Marinade the chicken marylands with 2 tablespoons of Nando’s sauce.

2. Bake the chicken skin side up for 15 mins, and take it out to base it with more sauce. Place it back into the oven for another 15 mins.

3. Take it out and place the marylands on a rack and base it again with more sauce, then put it back in the oven for another 10 mins.

4. Flip the chicken (skin side down) and base it one last time, and bake it for a further 10 mins till golden brown.

5. Allow it to rest for about 5 mins before serving.

Plating Up :

1. Be as artistic as you like! haha. This is what we did (:

first the pumpkin, then the gnocchi and top it up with the chicken !

I must say, it was really nice working with my baby in the kitchen again! (: We use to cook together all the time, but cause now I am doing nothing and he is working and studying, I do most of the cooking (which I am very happy to do haha). But today, we worked together and it was all fuzzy and nice! hehe ?