Today’s post comes to you from the lovely Paula of bell’alimento.

Gnocchi are little pillows of potato goodness and I’m my opinion, comfort food at it’s finest. The good news is, it’s not as difficult as you might imagine, you just need a little time. I like to make it in stages. Do a little work, take a little break, do a little work, take a little break and before you know it you’ll be enjoying a plate full of deliciousness!

Once you’ve mastered the basic gnocchi recipe, you can experiment by adding all kinds of different flavors. Naturally, here we’ve added mushrooms and we’ve given the gnocchi themselves a deep, decadent flavor with truffle paste! This would be simply divine with a butter and sage sauce on it’s own, but oh no, we’ve continued the mushroom theme and created a flavorful sauce full of mushrooms plus a little spice for extra measure. You can after all, never have enough mushrooms, right ; )

The secret to making light and fluffy gnocchi is the amount of flour you mix in. Too much and the gnocchi will be tough and dense {and who wants that} You want your dough to be tacky but not sticky or “wet”. Your hands will let you know when this is just right. Just add a little flour at a time until it’s perfect, you’ll know when ; )

The recipe is easily doubled and you can tailor the heat and mushroom level to your taste, simply add more or less of the Calabrian Crushed Red Pepper Chili Flakes and truffle paste and voila!

Baci!

Paula

What you’ll need:
{gnocchi}
4 medium- large Russet Potatoes
1 tablespoon Truffle Paste
1 egg – beaten
1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano – Grated
2-3 cups of all purpose flour
salt

{sauce}
8 ounces of mushrooms – sliced
1 teaspoon Calabrian Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
3 cloves of garlic – crushed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
salt/pepper

What to do:
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Place potatoes onto a rimmed sheet pan and bake for approx 45 minutes to 1 hour until fork tender. Allow to cool just until you are able to safely work with them and then remove skins.

2. While the potatoes are still warm, place them into a food mill and grind. Transfer milled potatoes onto a rimmed cookie sheet and place in refrigerator to cool completely.

3. Once cooled, transfer to a clean, lightly floured surface. Form a well, add eggs, Parmigiano, a large pinch of salt, and 2 cups of the flour. Begin mixing/kneading. If dough is still too wet add another cup of flour. Continue until you have a ball of dough {adding flour only if necessary}. Once your dough ball is formed, add the truffle paste and work in until well combined.

{NOTE: put a large stock pot of generously salted water onto boil now}

4.  Using a pastry scraper, cut the dough into small manageable sections. Roll the sections of the dough into logs of equal proportions. Once the logs are in place, use your pastry scraper and cut them into 1? sections. Transfer them to a lightly floured rimmed cookie sheet. Continue until all pieces are cut.

5. When the water is boiling, place the gnocchi into the water and allow them to cook until they rise to the top and swell up.

6. WHILE the gnocchi are cooking, make the sauce by placing a large sauté pan over medium – high heat. Add the olive oil, butter, crushed garlic and allow to melt and for the garlic to turn a light golden color. Add the mushrooms and allow to cook down slightly. Add chicken broth and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium and allow sauce to reduce. Stirring as necessary. Remove garlic before serving.

7. When gnocchi are done. Transfer them with a slotted spoon into the sauce pan, toss GENTLY to combine. Garnish with additional basil and Parmigiano Reggiano if desired.

Buon Appetito!