Mushroom, Sausage Meatballs and Potato Gnocchi

Australia does have a winter, and it has finally arrived. It is currently 9am and 8C, here in the metropolis of Melbourne, Australia. It is glacial! Well not quite arctic, but it is bloody cold! Citizens from other countries imagine that Australia is a tropical paradise with kangaroos hopping about in our backyards. I blame the Australian tourism industry for selling such a bullshit image of my charming country to the rest of humankind. Yes it is true, that Northern Australia is a steamy territory, but here in the southern state of Victoria and Tasmania, we definitely experience the four seasons.
Anyway, for today’s recipe I have chosen a true winters day dish. Well actually my partner in life and food blogging chose the subject for me. You see he decided to write of his grandly successful gnocchi yesterday, and as I made the sauce for those delicate little potato pillows, I have no choice now but to write about my delectable accompaniment. Thank you Mikey! I would also like to mention that Mike has an innate gift for producing superior homemade pasta of all types- tagliatelle, tagliarini, ravioli and gnocchi. For an individual who did not grow up eating home produced pasta (Mike is of Russian descent), he is doing very well indeed. I guess he has a wonderful instructor (myself!).
I must warn you- this is very rich. I would only make this dish for a chilly winters evening and then enjoy it in small quantities.

Ingredients
50g unsalted cultured butter
50ml extra virgin olive oil
50g pancetta lardons
15 small Swiss Brown mushrooms, halved
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 red onion, thinly sliced
300g pork and fennel seed sausage meat
150ml meat stock
200ml porcini stock
200g Béchamel sauce
1 tsp white truffle oil
Grana Padana cheese, finely grated
Fresh black pepper
Freshly grated parsley
1 quantity Mikey’s gnocchi

Method
Over a low heat, gently cook the pancetta, mushrooms and garlic in half the butter and oil, for 20 minutes. The mushrooms and pancetta should brown lightly.
In a separate pan melt the remaining butter and oil and caramelize the onion slices for about 30 minutes, over a low heat.
Whilst the onions are gilding, roll the sausage meat into little balls, the same size as the gnocchi.
Once the onions are done add them to the pan containing the mushrooms.
Brown the sausage meatballs in the remaining fat used to fry the onion.
Add the browned meatballs to the mushrooms.
Deglaze the pan used to brown the onions and meatballs, with the meat stock.
Add the reduced meat stock and porcini stock to the mushrooms, onion and meatballs. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Mix the teaspoon of truffle oil into the béchamel sauce.
Turn the oven to the highest temperature.
Gently mix the gnocchi with the mushroom and meatball sauce.
Place into a baking dish and dot with the truffle scented béchamel sauce.
Drizzle over with grated Grana cheese.
Bake in the oven until the dish is a lightly golden brown, about 10 minutes. Scatter with chopped parsley and black pepper. Eat at once. Serves 4.

Mikey's Gnocchi

This is my first food post! And what did I decide to do? Gnocchi. Something easy. Simple. Yet intriguing. After looking through various cooking books and seeking words of wisdom from my partner, I settled on a recipe based from “Made in Italy” by Giorgio Locatelli.
And they worked! Not perfectly shaped cookie cutter, mirror images of one gnocchi after another but a huge number of individuals. Like us. My better half tells me that gnocchi in Italian means “little lumps” and mine certainly were! But what lovely soft delicate lumps they were.

Ingredients
500g Desiree potato
1 egg
160g flour tipo 00
Pinch of salt.
Pinch of ground nutmeg

Method
Pack the unpeeled potatoes into a steamer and steam for about 30 minutes. They are done when a skewer slides easily into the potato. They should be tender. Do not over cook the potato, otherwise they will become water logged and you may as well start again.
Remove the potatoes from the heat and peel them using your fingers. Please be careful as they are hot. The Gourmand may have cast iron hands, I do not.
Pass the potatoes through the finest disk of a mouli.
Add the egg and about ¾ of the flour. Combine the mixture quickly so that it comes together. Work the mixture swiftly but lightly so that you don’t overwork the gluten. The dough should feel slightly tacky like the sticky surface of a Post-it note. Add more flour if needed. You have to be careful with the amount of flour: too much and the gnocchi will end up as dry lumps, not enough and they will disintegrate.
Using your hands, roll small amounts of the dough on a floured surface into the form of a rope. The thickness should be about 1cm (1/3 inch for the non-metric population). With a knife cut the rolls of dough into 2.5cm sections (1 inch). Lightly flour the newly formed gnocchi and place on a floured surface till you are ready to cook them.
Bring a large pot of water to a gentle simmer and add plenty of salt.
Poach the gnocchi in batches. They are ready when they float to the surface. This will take seconds. Do not allow the water to boil rapidly as this will destroy the delicate gnocchi and you will be left with a rather insipid potato soup. Remove them with a slotted spoon to a buttered serving dish. Combined with a sauce that The Gourmand made, this will serve about 4 or 5.

Potato Gnocchi with Spinach & Gruyere sauce

There are two ways of preparing Gnocchi. One way with potato, flour and egg. The second way, with potato and a touch of flour. I cannot decide which I prefer. I like them both. So today I will post the egg enriched version, and the other method, sometime in the future. This recipe is pretty much foolproof - You do not need to worry about delicate handling, like the eggless version and the final result is still light and fluffy. This is like eating little clouds of potato (how poetic). Use Desiree potatoes for best results. The following recipe is my grandmothers.

Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients
1 kilo Desiree potatoes
150 g flour
2 eggs (organic and free range)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp salt
Fresh white pepper
Fresh black pepper
About 1 Tbsp of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
A generous scraping of nutmeg

Method
Cut the potatoes into halves, or quarters (if they are large) and steam them over boiling water. They will be tender in about 20 minutes. Steaming the potatoes will preserve their natural flavour. Boiling the potato will result in bland sogginess.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, tear away the skins. Push the potatoes through the fine disk of the mouli. (I must mention here that I would be an unhappy person without my mouli. I know they are old fashioned, but I find the result better than using a masher. Even for other purees I almost always prefer the mouli, over the food processor. It is much easier to clean too).
Add the flour to the potato puree and mix with a wooden spoon until combined.
Mix the eggs in a smaller bowl.
Add the egg gradually to the potato.
Add the remaining ingredients and give it a final mix. The mixture will resemble choux pastry, but not as stiff. It helps if somebody else holds the bowl down, as you mix.
Cover the bowl and set aside.
When you are ready to poach the gnocchi, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil.
Add a generous amount of salt.
There are two ways of assembling the gnocchi:

1. Take two long handled teaspoons (sorbet spoons). Using one spoon take a teaspoon of the mixture and with the other spoon, slide it in the simmering water.
   


2. Fill a piping bag with the mixture and as you squeeze the bag over the water, cut the gnocchi with scissors so it falls gently into the simmering water.
   

Continue forming the gnocchi into the saucepan. Do not over fill the pot (you will need to do this in batches. Keep them warm in a low oven, as you poach the rest). Make sure the water remains at a constant simmer, rather than a fast boil. The gnocchi are delicate and will break if the water boils too hard. Serve the gnocchi with a sauce .
Enough for 4 people.
Note-Prepare the mixture on the day you need it. The mixture will turn a murky grey colour on standing.

Spinach and gruyere sauce

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
30g butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
250g baby spinach leaves
250ml organic cream
Fresh black pepper
40g gruyere cheese, grated
100g bacon, finely chopped
Extra virgin olive oil

Method
Melt the butter over a low heat, with the oil and garlic. Cook this gently for 2 minutes. Do not allow the garlic to colour.
Add the spinach leaves, turn up the heat to high, and cook the leaves turning them over constantly. The spinach is ready as soon as the leaves have wilted. Don’t over cook the spinach-You want retain the fresh flavour and a vivid green colour.
Add the cream and let it bubble for a few seconds.
Puree the lot, using a hand blender or a food processor.
Pour back into the saucepan and leave it for a moment.
Saute the bacon, with a touch of oil, until crispy.
Add this to the spinach puree.
Add the gruyere.
Heat gently, melting the cheese into the sauce.
Finish with pepper.
Spoon over the gnocchi and drizzle over a touch of extra virgin olive oil.

I must say this sauce is lovelier than the usual tomato sauce often served with gnocchi.