Potato gnocchi are a common alternative to pasta in first courses. They are made by mixing riced potatoes with flour and egg. There are, however, several other types of gnocchi, such as ‘gnocchi alla romana’ (typical of central Italy) which are made with semolina flour (and without potatoes). In the area near the Austrian border, flour ‘gnocchetti’ (the equivalent of the German spätzle) are used as an accompaniment instead of rice or potatoes.
Potato gnocchi can be served with any pasta sauce. However, some sauces pair more successfully with their flavor and texture: tomato sauce, butter and sage, Gorgonzola sauce.
This recipe yields 5-6 servings. It’s quite simple to make but may easily take 2 ½ hours.
Potato Gnocchi
Yield: 5-6 servings
Total Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
2 ¼ pounds (1 Kg) whole unpeeled Russet (Bakers) potatoes.
about 2 ½ cups (350 g) white all-purpose flour.
1 egg.
½ teaspoon salt.
Preparation
Boil the whole unpeeled russet potatoes, previously washed and scrubbed (fig. 1). This will take 30 to 45 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Alternatively, the potatoes can be baked in the microwave for about 6-8 minutes after having punched holes in them with a fork. Russet potatoes (also called Bakers) are particularly suitable because high in starch and low in moisture.
Cut each boiled potato in half and mash it in a ricer; the skin will remain in the ricer to be disposed.
Allow the mashed potatoes to cool, then add the flour (fig. 2).
Work together flour and potatoes until you obtain an evenly crumbly mix.
Add the whole egg and the salt (fig. 3).
Mix and kneed for 2 minutes. The dough should feel light and fluffy, sufficiently elastic and not too sticky (fig. 4). If later on, during the process, the dough starts to feel sticky again, add enough flour to prevent it.
Cut the dough in fist-size pieces, then roll out each piece until you have a long roll about ½ inch in diameter. Cut the rolls into 1 inch pieces (fig. 5).
Roll each gnocco over on a fork to produce the well known indentations (see the picture below) - the corrugated texture will help the sauce bind.
Let the gnocchi rest on a well floured plate or tray, ensuring they stay separated (fig. 6). Note: Gnocchi can be frozen at this stage, and then kept in the freezer in air-tight containers for up to 4 weeks.
Cook the gnocchi in salted boiling water until they float. Frozen gnocchi can also be boiled directly without thawing, just ensure you do so in small batches to avoid interrupting the boil.
Warm up the sauce in a skillet. Drain and add the cooked gnocchi to the sauce allowing them to become fully coated.
Serve in pre-heated plates with Parmigiano cheese if the sauce calls for it.
The smell of bread… Freshly baked bread has such an evocative fragrance. Italian bread, just like most artisan kinds of bread, is usually made of just yeast, flour, water, and salt.
The Chemistry
Yeast. The kind most commonly used is baker’s yeast, which is also used for brewing alcoholic beverages (in fact in Italian it’s called ‘lievito di birra’, beer leaven). Unlike sourdough (a symbiotic combination of a lactobacilli culture and yeasts that naturally develops when a mix of flour and water is left at room temperature for a certain amount of time, and where lactic acid is produced as a byproduct), baker’s yeast is a cultivated form of just yeast (Saccharomyces) and it’s preferred because not sour.
As part of the leavening process, the yeast eats the sugars contained in the flour and transforms them through an enzymatic process in dextrose and fructose, while producing carbon dioxide (CO2) and alcohol. The CO2 is responsible for the rising of the bread, but the fermentation itself and the caramelization of the sugars that occurs in the oven are responsible for the resulting flavor and smell. To lengthen the fermentation and increase the flavor, a starter (also called pre-ferment or ‘mother dough’) is often used. The classic Italian starter is called biga (a thick mixture of baker’s yeast, flour, and water that gets prepared ahead of time and then added to the fresh yeast). As an alternative, a portion of dough from a previous batch can be used.
Flour. Flour from several kinds of grains can be used (including rye, barley, corn), but Italian bread mostly uses high-gluten wheat flour. The gluten content is fundamental to give “structure” to the bread so that it holds its shape while rising and that prevents it from collapsing during the baking.
The salt is responsible not only for the taste but also for the color of the bread. Common table salt or sea salt is added near the beginning of the mixing process, but avoiding direct contact with the yeast. Tuscan bread is an exception where salt is completely absent.
Regular drinking water mediates between yeast and flour. The minerals naturally contained in Italian water also affect the bread’s flavor and texture.
The Cultural Significance
Now that we have the complex chemistry of bread out of the way, let’s talk about what bread means to the Italians.
Bread is very dear to the Italians; it’s so dear that it is synonymous of ‘good’ (a common Italian saying calls a good-natured person “good like bread”, ‘buona come il pane’). Bread is considered essential to every meal (except of course for meals which are made of bread, like pizza), so much that it traditionally represents the center of the banquet and every other food that is served with it is generally referred as ‘companatico’ (something that goes with bread). And since bread is a given in every meal, it’s free in restaurants (or, better, it’s included with service), and refilled as needed without charge.
Italians eat bread without any butter. As a result, people generally take one bun or bread slice from the basket where it’s served, place it directly on the tablecloth by their plate and eat it with hands, one bite-sized chunk at a time (biting off directly is instead a big no-no).
All Italian bread would probably be considered as ‘fancy’ in North America, there is, in fact, nothing like the standard day-to-day sandwich bread. The closest thing is called “pan carré”, French for ‘square bread’, a long-preservation preparation meant to be toasted, somewhat popular in Northern Italy, but that doesn’t compare with traditional Italian bread.
Bread used to be bought fresh every day at a bakery. And since bakeries used to be closed on Sundays (pretty much like everything else in Italy), on Saturday people would buy double amounts and accept to eat stale bread the next day. Now of course bread can also be bought in superstores, and many people freeze it and every day they thaw the desired amounts (if properly bagged and frozen when very fresh, bread remains almost unaltered for a few weeks).
Is there such a thing as Italian bread?
Not really. Bread in Italy comes in a big variety of shapes and kinds, from small rolls to big loaves, which vary across the peninsula. The most known kinds of Italian bread include:
“michetta” o “rosetta” (Lombardy): round shaped bun, with flat base and star incision. Completely empty inside because of the long leavening.
“biova” (Piedmont): slightly heavier than michetta because only partially empty and slightly denser.
“carasau” (Sardinia): a flatbread, extremely thin and crunchy.
“francese”, “francesino”: French-style bread (loaf or bun).
“ciabatta” (not ciabbata!), classic denser bun, rectangular shaped, used for instance to make “panini” (singular “panino” !), grilled sandwiches where the bread is cut horizontally and filled with one type of cold cut or ham and optionally cheese and roasted vegetables.
“filone”, “sfilatino”: similar to a baguette.
Special bread featuring the addition of other ingredients (from simple milk or oil to olives, raisins, or grapes) is also quite common. It has to be noted that the law imposes the use of the “Special Bread” label for any kinds of bread containing more than 4.5% of fat.
Focaccia (not foccacia!) can be considered a type of special bread containing olive oil. The most basic focaccia is simply sprinkled with coarse salt, but there are many variations (even a sweet one covered with sugar). The most famous focaccia comes from Liguria, and particularly the city of Recco (topped with Crescenza cheese).
A slice of classic Panettone
Panettone is also a type of special bread, definitely the most representative sweet bread, a typical Christmas cake that originated in the city of Milan, but is common all throughout Italy (though usually only around the Christmas time). Panettone contains eggs, butter, sugar, raisins, and candied citrus peel and its complex preparation requires different stages of leavening.
A typical preparation that uses a slice of toasted bread as its base is the famous bruschetta (brus-‘ket-ta, not bru-‘shet-ta!). The most classic bruschetta is topped with diced tomatoes, garlic, onion and olive oil and originates in Central and Southern Italy.
Two other regional specialties (both from Emilia Romagna) are Piadina (a flatbread which is traditionally eaten with fresh creamy cheese and cold cuts) and ‘gnocco fritto’, fried dumpling which is also eaten with cold cuts or cheese. Both kinds of bread can also be served as desserts (usually with chocolate spreads, gnocco fritto can also be served with honey).
Finally, several preparations are based on stale bread, either diced and softened in milk or grated. One preparation typical of the eastern Alps is Canederli (though originated in Germany and Austria), bread dumplings usually containing cheese and smoked cured meat, served in broth or with melted butter.
Pasta is probably the most recognized Italian dish. And for good reasons. Pasta plays a fundamental part in the diet of every Italian – even daily! This article describes all main pasta types.
Italians like pasta because they know it’s a filling meal that is easy to digest, a great option for the lunch break. The scientific reason behind this is in the high percentage of carbohydrates that pasta contains, a source of ready-to-use energy. Most Italians don’t believe in low-carb diets, since pasta and bread are so entrenched in their culture, although they do know that the excess of carbohydrates will show on the scale.
Now that we have the Atkins debate out of the way (probably the most controversial debate that we will ever have on this blog), let’s talk about the different ways to classify pasta (limiting to its more basic forms, and leaving some of its variations, such as gnocchi or ravioli, for another post).
Short or Long
Pasta can be short (‘corta’) or long (‘lunga’). Examples of short kinds of pasta are: maccheroni, rigatoni, penne, rotini, farfalle. Examples of long kinds of pasta are: spaghetti, tagliatelle, linguine.
Even though subtle, the shape, size, and thickness of pasta affect its texture on the palate, and the way it takes the sauce (hence the flavor). Because of this, tradition tends to dictate whether to choose short or long based on the preparation, in some cases even calls for a specific cut (e.g. in the case of penne all’arrabbiata – not arabiatta!).
The shortest kinds of pasta are usually eaten in broth (‘pasta in brodo’), as opposed to in dry preparations (‘pasta asciutta’). ‘Mac and cheese’ is an exception where a very short pasta is used in a dry dish – this, however, is not a traditional Italian recipe.
Long pasta typically poses some “mechanical difficulties” to those that are not used to eating it. The proper way to eat long pasta doesn’t involve cutting it with a knife! Instead, it consists in rolling the strings around the fork (by rotating it in the hand), optionally using a spoon as support (although this is not common in Italy). Long pasta is known to splash the person eating it, especially if tomato or oily sauces are used. That’s the main reason why in Italy it is not unusual to see people in restaurants wearing napkins around their necks.
Fresh or Dried
Pasta can be fresh (‘fresca’) or dried (‘secca’). Fresh pasta (either industrially made or hand made) is preserved by keeping it in the fridge in air-tight wrapping (and only lasts a few days). Dried pasta is industrially treated to remove its moisture and can be stored for quite a long time even if the box has been opened.
Because of its different texture and flavor, fresh pasta is considered more highly than the dried one, and on certain dishes, it’s almost mandatory. However, quality dried pasta has different properties that work well for certain dishes, and in every day’s cooking, it’s far more popular than the fresh one. Every Italian has their own favorite brand of dried pasta, and they are very loyal to it (the most popular ones are Voiello, Barilla, De Cecco).
Both dried and fresh pasta may or may not contain eggs. Egg pasta has a different flavor and texture that works well for some delicate preparations. Common cuts of egg pasta are tagliatelle, pappardelle, garganelli.
Boiled or Baked
Pasta can either be boiled in abundant salty water, or baked in the oven. When boiled pasta is ready, it is quickly drained and served with a sauce (for best results, boiled pasta should be added to the sauce while still in the pan and allowed to rest in it for a minute). The boiling time is extremely important as you want the pasta to be “al dente” (for commercial pasta, most Italians simply follow the cooking time on the box). The expression “al dente” literally means “to the tooth”, indicating that the cooked pasta should be firm enough to require it to be chewed. The chewing process makes al dente pasta easier to digest than overcooked pasta. Pasta can also be boiled in broth and served in the same broth.
Baked pasta, on the other hand, is filled or layered with other ingredients, covered in sauce, and baked in the oven. If dried pasta is used, it gets sometimes lightly pre-boiled before going in the oven. Examples are: cannelloni (not caneloni!), or the world-famous lasagna (plural: lasagne ).
Durum or Regular Wheat
Italian dried pasta is made exclusively with durum wheat semolina. Fresh pasta can be made of regular wheat semolina or even all-purpose flour. Durum semolina is high in gluten, and the pasta made from it holds the cooking much better, i.e. doesn’t overcook as easily as regular wheat pasta. Even the best durum pasta, however, don’t reheat well at all – no Italian would eat leftover pasta the next day. Baked pasta instead can be reheated (sometimes, Italians even bake their lasagnas intentionally the night before and warm them up the next day for a more uniform and intense flavor).
As mentioned, every boiled pasta is served with some kind of sauce, and the sauce has to be in a sufficient quantity to coat the pasta, and just a little more. It’s a common Italian habit to eat the sauce remaining in the plate with some bread. This operation is called ‘fare la scarpetta’, which literally means: doing the little shoe – shaping a chunk of bread like a small shoe and wipe the plate clean!
Regardless of the type of sauce used, grated Parmigiano (or in some cases aged Pecorino) is added (just before serving) pretty much to every pasta dish. A common exception is for sauces containing fish.
It is interesting to note that probably 50% of pasta sauces are traditionally vegetarian – this contributes to making Italy a vegetarian-friendly country.
Every Italian region has its own exclusive pasta sauce recipes, and it would be impossible to mention them all here. However, there are a few families of sauces that are popular all around Italy. Here is a list of them where every sauce is paired with its most typical cut of pasta.
Based on just olive oil, e.g.:
spaghetti ‘aglio, olio e peperoncino’ (with garlic and chili pepper)
linguine with shell fish or other seafood (usually with some garlic and white wine)
Based on tomato, e.g.:
tomato basil rotini
penne all’arrabbiata (spicy, with garlic and parsley)
Finally, I can’t help but mention the most common mistakes found in North America. You are likely not going to have an authentic Italian pasta dish if:
You are getting served preparations that in Italy don’t exist. For instance:
Alfredo sauce. In Italy, there are several cheese and butter sauces, but nothing called Alfredo.
Spaghetti with meatballs. There is some evidence of such a dish in some areas of southern Italy, but this dish is virtually extinct in Italy.
Your pasta is terribly overcooked – Italian pasta has to be “al dente”.
There is too much sauce – pasta is a dry dish, not a stew!
There is too much pasta – 80-100 grams (around 3 ounces) is the average amount.
Pasta is served with a side of salad or garlic toast – it just doesn’t happen in Italy (however, bread would be on the table).
Also, if you are making pasta at home, using pre-made sauces from a jar is a big no-no. You can buy some OK pre-made Italian sauces, but they don’t compare with the freshly made ones and don’t have a big market in Italy.
More featured articles
Home-Baked Sourdough Bread – At Last!
Geographical Indications: Italian Food, Made Official Or “Complicated Simplicity”
Italian Words Gone Wrong – 6 Mistakes Native Italians Don’t Make
An Italian in Canada – From the Food of Italy to “Italian Food”
Personal Space – Why Italians Seem to Require Less of it
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