Baked Gnocchetti

By: Chef Dante de Magistris

Details

Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the gnocchi
  • 2 pounds Idaho potatoes
  • 1 ounce egg yolk
  • 1/2 ounce egg whites
  • 3 ounces all purpose flour
  • 1/5 ounce extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 ounce Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 1/5 ounce sea salt
For the sauce
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 12 ounces San Marzano tomatoes, peeled whole and crushed
  • 1 pint Sweet 100 tomatoes, washed and halved
  • 2 cups smoked mozzarella, grated
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 6 leaves fresh basil, julienned
  • 10 slices Speck, thinly sliced
  • crushed red pepper, to taste

Directions

For the Gnocchi
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Set the potatoes in roasting pan. Bake until tender, about 40 minutes.
  3. While the potatoes are still warm, scoop out the flesh, rice into a large bowl using a ricer, food mill or a course china cap strainer. Only use one pound of the riced potatoes. (There may be a bit more than 1 pound of riced potatoes, just use the remainder for another recipe or have a little snack. It is important that you only use one pound).
  4. Set aside on a tray and let completely cool.
  5. Dust a workspace with flour and spread out the riced potatoes.
  6. Add the egg yolk, egg white, flour, extra virgin olive oil, grated Parmigiano Reggiano, nutmeg and salt.
  7. With your hands, knead the ingredients together just enough for all ingredients to come together. If you knead too much the gnocchetti will become gummy and if you don't knead enough the gnocchetti will fall apart when cooked.
  8. Form the dough into a block, and roll out 1/2 inch thick.
  9. Using a chef knife, cut the square into into strips 1/2 inch thick.
  10. Roll the strips into logs without flour. Dust a little flour over the logs. Cut the logs into 1/4 inch piece.
  11. Place them in a single layer on a floured surface. Don't pile them on top of each other or they will stick together.
  12. Now the gnochetti are ready to be blanched and shocked.
  13. Fill a large sauce pot with one gallon of water and 1/4 cup sea salt and bring the water to a boil over high heat.
  14. Prepare an ice bath with cold water and ice.
  15. Add the gnocchetti to the boiling water.
  16. When the gnocchetti float to the top of the water let them cook for one more minute.
  17. Then when the gnocchetti are cooked strain them out and shock them in the ice bath.
  18. Remove the gnocchetti from the ice bath and in a large bowl toss the gnocchetti with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, then set aside in the refrigerator until you are ready to toss and heat with your sauce.
For the Sauce
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat.
  3. Add the extra virgin olive oil and the sliced garlic.
  4. Sweat the garlic for two minutes, being sure not to color the garlic.
  5. Add the crushed tomatoes, the Sweet 100 tomatoes, crushed red pepper and cook for five minutes.
  6. Add the heavy cream and cook for another 2 minutes.
  7. Toss the tomato sauce with the blanched gnocchetti and transfer to a large baking dish.
  8. Top with the slices of speck, then the grated smoked mozzarella.
  9. Bake the gnocchetti, for 10 minutes and serve.
  10. Sprinkle with chives and serve.

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