Tag: gnocchi

[Thoughts on the Table – 96] What makes a dish Italian? With Eva from Electric Blue Food

In this new episode of Thoughts on the Table, Eva from Electric Blue Food is back to help me break down a massive topic: What makes a dish Italian?

To non-Italians, Italian food may be what appears on the menus of Italian restaurants or anything tagged as Italian that goes viral on social networks, like Carbonara, Amatriciana, Neapolitan Pizza, egg-yolk ravioli. To the Italians, Italian food is what they naturally cook at home, and maybe the only thing they are able and equipped to cook. These are potentially two very different things!

With many cuisines, we see a set of iconic dishes that become famous around the world through some kind of selection (like Pad Thai, Chicken Vindaloo, Salmon Teriyaki). Despite helping to make those cuisines accessible to many, these dishes are really just a small sample of the foods originating in their native regions. Eva and I argue that the (often ill-formed) quest for “the original” or “the authentic” version of these recipes may contribute to weeding out all variations of those dishes except for their dominant ones. This is probably why abroad there tends to be only one kind of Tiramisu (the coffee/cocoa one), whereas in Italy important spin-offs happily co-exist.

Join us in this episode to hear more about the true cuisine of Italy by going over some unexpected Italian dishes, such as Mostarda, Bagna Cauda, Prosciutto and Cantaloupe, as well as evidence of many dishes sometimes labeled as “non-authentic” that are eaten daily all around the Peninsula, like Spaghetti alla Bolognese, Gnocchi al Pesto, Lasagne al Pesto, Carbonara with Pancetta, and Strawberry Tiramisu.

Finally, Eva describes her experience with the Polish cuisine of her grandmother and her encounter with Blueberry Pierogi, a sweet variation of the iconic potato dumpling that is equally unexpected outside of Poland.

You can learn more about Eva by visiting her website Electric Blue Food. You can also follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Please also check out Eva’s interview in episode 87!

Listen now!
   

Making Basil Pesto in a Blender

This article is about basil pesto, the second most famous Italian pasta sauce, of course after tomato sauce.

However, this is not about the traditional way to make “Pesto Genovese” – using a mortar; there are plenty of good resources on that (as greatly summarized on Food Lover’s Odyssey). This article is about the more modern way to make pesto – using a blender, a method which is quite common also in Italy.

Technically the word “pesto” comes from the Italian ‘pestare’, to pound. Therefore, the purists would argue that this sauce should be called differently when made in a blender.

Aside from how it should be called, does the pesto made in a blender taste the same as the traditional one? Absolutely not. But it does get close, and it’s much better than any pesto that I could ever buy in a jar.

But before we start throwing basil leaves into the blender, it’s important to know that chopped basil is prone to oxidation – it turns dark and deteriorates in flavor when in contact with the oxygen in the air. Luckily oxidation can be countered by allowing the basil leaves to dry completely before blending them so that the oil can create a seal around the chopped leaves, keeping the oxygen away.

Basil also deteriorates and changes flavor when heated too much. To help counter this, the blender must be activated in pulses in order to limit the overall blending time and the corresponding friction produced by the blades. It also helps to chill the blender bowl and blade in the freezer before use.

Pesto sauce is traditionally used on trenette, trofie (pictured below), but also on linguini, spaghetti (as in this post’s feature image), and even gnocchi.

Making Basil Pesto in a Blender

Yield: 4 servings as pasta sauce

Total Time: 15 minutes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Making Basil Pesto in a Blender

Ingredients

  • 100 g fresh basil leaves (if you can find it, prefer the Genovese kind)
  • 50 g Parmigiano (or a mix of Parmigiano & Pecorino cheese)
  • 25 g pine nuts (possibly, from the Mediterranean)
  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon of coarse salt
  • 1 clove of garlic (optional)

Preparation

  1. Gently wash the basil under cold running water and then lay it on a towel and let it dry completely (fig. 1). Do not bend or crush the leaves.
  2. Meanwhile, put the blender's bowl and blade in the freezer for at least 10 minutes (fig. 2a).
  3. Pour all of the oil in the blender, then add the crushed garlic (if using it) and the basil. Give it a few pulses until the leaves are roughly chopped up (fig. 2b).
  4. Add the cheese, grated or cut in small bits, and the salt (fig. 2c). Give it a few more spins.
  5. Add the whole pine nuts (fig. 2d).
  6. Give a few last spins and extract from the blender (fig. 3).

Notes

If the sauce is not used immediately, it can be preserved in the fridge for up to two to three days. Store it in a tall and narrow container (e.g.: a glass) and top it up with an extra tablespoon of olive oil. Before using it, leave the sauce out of the fridge an hour - don't warm it up, or you'll cause the cheese to lump together and separate from the oil. Pesto can also be frozen, in that case some recommend not to add the cheese until the sauce is thawed.

https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2022/01/making-basil-pesto-in-a-blender.html

Baked ‘Ndunderi (Gnocchi di ricotta alla Sorrentina)

I was recently interviewed by Jo Mackay from Bookings For You. In addition to the great questions she had for me, Jo asked me: Do you have a recipe that you’d be happy for us to feature on our blog? My answer was my version of a dish from the Amalfi coast I have been tweaking: ‘Ndunderi.

‘Ndunderi is a dish I fell in love with fairly recently after being reminded about it by Pasta Grannies, the book. Unlike potato gnocchi, which I grew up with, ‘ndunderi are ricotta gnocchi that are prepared ‘Sorrentina’ style, i.e. baked with layers of cheese (smoked scamorza in this case). I find the use of ricotta instead of mashed potatoes very interesting, as it gives a similar fluffy and slightly grainy texture, but it’s much more forgiving in terms of controlling the water content – only requiring that the ricotta is well-drained.

Please head over to Bookings For You and check out the recipe!

screenshot of the'ndunderi recipe on the Bookings For You blog.

[Thoughts on the Table – 69] Introducing Food Blogger Pina Bresciani

This episode’s guest is Pina Bresciani (pinabresciani.com), a talented food blogger based in Vancouver, Canada, with strong ties to Italy.

Join me as I learn more about Pina, starting from her upbringings in an Italian family in Vancouver, speaking Italian at home and English at school, and spending her summers at her grandparents in Sperlonga, a seaside town between Rome and Naples. Growing up, Pina continued to keep close ties to Italy, while growing fond of Vancouver’s natural beauty and multicultural vibe. In 2015, Pina decided to start a blog as a creative outlet and, naturally, she gravitated towards Italian culture, and, just as naturally, food became the main focus. Pina’s recipes show her continental Italian roots, at times incorporating a west coast influence, beautifully presented thanks to her amazing food photography.

During the episode, we touch on some of Pina’s posts:

We also talk about the Italian bar “etiquette.”

You can follow Pina on her blog, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

The music in the episode is by www.purple-planet.com.

Listen now!
   

Buckwheat Gnocchi with Mascarpone Tomato Sauce

This recipe was inspired by a dish I had last summer at Farmer’s Apprentice, a great Vancouver restaurant. For my interpretation, I made rustic gnocchi by mixing in some buckwheat flour, and used mascarpone as a base for a creamy tomato sauce. The result speaks for itself! The dish is really easy to make, but it helps to prepare the gnocchi ahead of time, since they’re a bit time consuming. Enjoy!

Buckwheat Gnocchi with Mascarpone Tomato Sauce

Yield: 2-3 servings

Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Buckwheat Gnocchi with Mascarpone Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

  • 9 oz (250 g) fresh gnocchi made following these instructions, but using a mix of wheat and buckwheat flour (in a 3:1 ratio)
  • 5 oz (150 g) cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp mascarpone
  • 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 6 grape tomatoes, yellow and orange
  • 6 "cocktail" mozzarella bocconcini (1 inch in diameter), at room temperature
  • a handful basil leaves, chopped
  • salt

Preparation

  1. Roll the buckwheat gnocchi, set aside.
  2. Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil.
  3. Warm up the olive oil in a pan and cook the cherry tomatoes at medium heat for 5 minutes, covered with a lid.
  4. Squeeze the cherry tomatoes using a spatula to mash them, remove the skins.
  5. Add the mascarpone and the butter. Mix until they melt and you obtain a creamy sauce. Lower the heat.
  6. Adjust the salt.
  7. Add the grape tomatoes and cover with a lid for 5 minutes.
  8. Meanwhile, cook the gnocchi in boiling water, until they float.
  9. Drain the cooked gnocchi and add them to the sauce. Mix well and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes in the pan.
  10. Plate the gnocchi, adding the cocktail bocconcini and a few basil leaves to each plate.
https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2016/08/buckwheat-gnocchi-with-mascarpone-tomato-sauce.html

Potato Gnocchi

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

Potato Gnocchi

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

  1. 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.
  2. Cut each boiled potato in half and mash it in a ricer; the skin will remain in the ricer to be disposed.
  3. Allow the mashed potatoes to cool, then add the flour (fig. 2).
  4. Work together flour and potatoes until you obtain an evenly crumbly mix.
  5. Add the whole egg and the salt (fig. 3).
  6. 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.
  7. 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).
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. Warm up the sauce in a skillet. Drain and add the cooked gnocchi to the sauce allowing them to become fully coated.
  12. Serve in pre-heated plates with Parmigiano cheese if the sauce calls for it.
https://www.disgracesonthemenu.com/2010/11/potato-gnocchi.html

Pasta 101 – A Primer on the Most Iconic Italian Food

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)
    • creamy tomato farfalle (with heavy cream)
  • Pesto (basil, oil, pine nuts, Parmigiano), e.g.:
  • Just butter, e.g.:
    • pappardelle (also, ravioli) butter and sage
  • Based on meat, e.g.:
    • spaghetti al ragù (Bolognese)
    • tagliatelle ‘al cinghiale’ (with wild boar)
  • Based on cream, e.g.:
    • pappardelle with mushrooms
    • fettuccine with salmon
    • farfalle with ham and peas
  • Based on eggs, e.g.:
  • Based on cheese, e.g.:

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.

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