Buckwheat Gnocchi

 

I considered making this during Passover, but further research led me to finding that buckwheat is part of kitniyot, so no.  You know, for it occurring only one week a year, the dietary restrictions really consume my meal-planning searches.

I'm starting with a fairly basic recipe from Kathy Bechtel's Italian Food, Wine, and Travel blog.  It kind of looks like she copied a generic instruction for making gnocchi, omitting the fork-rolling part, and ignored the properties of gluten-free flours.  She also admits that this can be a slightly sturdy, "rustic" tasting recipe, owing to the buckwheat.

So I'm not making it gluten-free.  It still has enough buckwheat in it for that earthy taste and to accomplish what I wanted out of my gnocchi, but there's wheat flour in here today because I do remember what my Passover gnocchi recipe was like to make.  Refer to original recipe if you prefer to go that route, but it's just the same as I've posted here with 1 C of buckwheat flour instead of splitting it.

2 lbs Yukon or Russet potatoes
*1/2 C buckwheat flour
1/2 C all-purpose flour
2 tsp kosher salt
1 egg, beaten

1.  Preheat oven to 375º.  Scrub potatoes clean and pierce once or twice to prevent potato-splosions.  Bake directly on the oven rack 1 hour to 75 minutes, until easily pierced.

2.  Remove potatoes from the oven with gloves or a towel and allow to cool 10 minutes on the counter.  Slice open and scoop out the insides.  Rice potatoes, either in a ricer or food mill.  Allow to cool and dry at room temperature.

3.  In a separate bowl, stir together both flours and salt.  Wow, that's a lot of salt, but it's also a lot of potatoes, and they need the help.  You can make up for it by putting less salt in the sauce.  Stir the flour mixture into the riced potatoes and work until combined.

4.  Stir in beaten egg and knead dough until it all comes together.  At this point, you can shape the gnocchi now or wrap the dough and use within 24 hours.  When ready to shape, start boiling a large pot of water.

5.  Dust a work surface with flour (either kind).  Cut dough into six pieces and roll each into a rope roughly 1/2" thick and 12" long.  Yes, it will break if you roll too hard, but not as badly as if you used only GF flour.  Cut into 1" pillows.

6.  Gently drop gnocchi into boiling water in batches.  They will sink, then float.  After the float, cook 2 more minutes, then carefully scoop out to a serving bowl.  The traditional topping for gnocchi is something simple like a flavored olive oil.  I thinned out some pesto and added fried radish pods (upcoming post) and grated parmesan, with roasted tomato and asparagus as sides.

My giant 6-serving pasta bowl that I have never used

Makes about 80 gnocchi pieces, 4 main servings or 6 sides

Difficulty rating  :)