Daniel Pfyl, hospitality management lecturer at Otago Polytechnic, shares some professional techniques to make your cooking easier. Today, he shows us how to make Roman-style gnocchi.
Gnocchi are small, soft dumplings and these gnocchi alla Romana (Roman-style gnocchi) are made with semolina, instead of the more usual potato, or choux pastry from which Parisian gnocchi are made.
Pumpkin gnocchi
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
750ml milk
250g peeled pumpkin
200g fine semolina
2 egg yolks
3 spring onions, finely sliced
3 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
salt, pepper and nutmeg
extra parmesan for sprinkling
Pumpkin gnocchi
Method
1) Heat the milk in a large pot. Slice the pumpkin thinly (it will cook faster if thin) and add to the milk. Simmer until the pumpkin is soft, keeping an eye on the pot as it can quickly boil over.
2) Meanwhile oil a slice tray generously.
3) After a few minutes, check whether the pumpkin is cooked by pressing a piece against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. If it squashes easily, it is done.
4) Pour the milk and pumpkin into a measuring jug.
5) Puree the mix. Chef Pfyl does this in the jug with a stick blender. To prevent splashing, he covers the jug with cling film and cuts a cross in it with a knife to insert the blender and purees it on low to start.
6) When pureed, top up with milk to make one litre. (Some of the milk will have evaporated during cooking.) Return the liquid to the pot and heat it. When it simmers, rain the semolina into the milk slowly while whisking well.
7) As each shower of semolina is incorporated, rain in another. If you add it too fast it can end up lumpy. Simmer on low heat for a couple of minutes, stirring vigorously and using a wooden spoon to get into the corner of the pot, making sure it doesn't catch. It should be thick and come away from the edge of the pot.
8) Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before beating in the egg yolks one by one.
9) Then stir in the parmesan and spring onions. Taste (the parmesan will be salty) and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
10) Spread evenly in the well-oiled tray and cover with oiled greaseproof paper, smoothing the top to remove any air bubbles. Leave to set for at least two hours or preferably overnight in the fridge.
11) When you are ready to finish and serve the gnocchi, turn the gnocchi out on to a chopping board. You will need to ease one side from the tray, then it will fall out easily.
12) Use a floured knife to cut into squares and then triangles. Or you can use a round (or any other shaped) cutter. They will be soft, so treat them gently.
13) Heat a very little oil in a frying pan. If you use too much, the crisp, caramelised outside you are aiming for is likely to come off.
14) Dip each piece into seasoned flour so all sides are covered, shake off excess flour and brown on the two sides in the frying pan. Put the presentation side (the smooth side that was on the bottom in the oiled tray) down first. When nicely golden on the bottom, turn over gently.
15) As they brown, place in an oven-proof dish. Chef Pfyl likes to wipe out the pan with a paper towel between batches so no black particles contaminate the next.
Sprinkle the gnocchi with parmesan and bake at 200degC for 10 minutes to heat through and soften.
• To make plain gnocchi alla Romana, omit the pumpkin and just use milk. The proportion is 200g semolina to one litre milk. These are good served as an appetiser with smoked salmon, spring onion and beurre blanc or creme fraiche.
Serve with a meat dish such as chicken or rabbit (last month's recipe) or with a stew (next month's recipe is a pumpkin and chickpea stew), or with a sauce.
If you would like to request a particular technique we haven't already shown, please let us know. Write to Cooking 101, Editorial Features, Otago Daily Times, PO Box 181, Dunedin or email odt.features@odt.co.nz with cooking 101 in the subject line.
To check earlier Cooking 101 columns visit: www.odt.co.nz and search for "cooking 101".
For more information on cooking from Otago Polytechnic visit www.otagocookeryl4.blogspot.com
