On one of my recent weekend trip to the market, I came across a potato variety called midnight pearl with a gorgeous deep purple flesh and I knew I had to get it and try it out. I really wanted the flavour and the colour of the potato to shine through and gnocchi seems to be the best way to achieve this. Making it was so much fun, it was like I was a child again rolling out and cutting up my vibrantly coloured Play-Doh, except this time, there is the added bonus that I get a delicious meal after all the playing. Happy cooking!
Difficulty: Medium
Time: 2hrs
Serves: 2
Ingredients
Purple Potato Gnocchi*
- 650g purple potatoes
- 150g tipo 00 flour
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- salt
Sauce
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1/2 tbsp thyme
- 3 tbsp lard
- salt
- pepper
Zucchini Flower Salad
- 3 zucchini flowers
- 1/2 tbsp white wine vingar
- 1.5 tbsp olive oil
- salt
Finish
- pine nuts lightly toasted
- lemon juice
* This is an eggless gnocchi. The result is much lighter and fluffier than the version with eggs, but this also makes it much more delicate to handle. I deliberately used as little flour as I can to bind it to retain the fluffiness. If you are not confident, feel free to replace it with a gnocchi recipe that you like.
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees. Bake the whole potatoes in the oven for 1 hour until it's fully cooked through.
2. Put the flour on a flat working surface. Remove the skin of the potato while it's still piping hot (and yes there were few 'ouches' from burnt fingers but it's important to do this and let as much steam and thus moisture escape from the potato for a fluffy gnocchi). Pass the peeled potato through a potato ricer about 10cm above the bench directly onto the flour. Gently combine the flour with mashed potatoes until it forms a smooth dough. Incorporate more flour if required and careful not to overwork it.
3. Lightly dust the working surface with more flour. Take a portion of the dough, roll it out and cut it into little pillows. I've shaped mine by lightly pressing the tip of a fork on it. You may be more creative with what shapes you would want to create out of it. Repeat this until finished.
4. Heat up a pot of water with salt in it. Gently drop the gnocchi in the water and cook for a few minutes until it's floating in the water. Take it out once cooked.
5. This is the trickier step because of the timing of it as you want everything to come together at the same time. While the gnocchi is boiling in a separate pot, heat up some lard in a cast iron pan, fry the garlic until fragrant, add the cooked gnocchi in the pan once cooked and gently fry them and flip them over until they are just coloured and have a light crispy crust. Add the fresh thyme and season with salt and pepper.
6. Place the gnocchi on plate and sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts.
7. Make the zucchini flowers salad by making a dressing with the vinegar, oil and salt. Delicately dress the zucchini flowers quickly and carefully place them on top of the gnocchi. Finish with a squeeze of lemon all over the gnocchi and enjoy!
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