Is gnocchi really pasta? That debate has raged around kitchens all around the globe as many Chefs and home cooks can’t decide whether everyone’s favourite soft and fluffy pillows are really pasta.
Pasta is normally made from wheat flour, eggs and water – on the other hand the most common type of gnocchi – Italian for ‘lumps’- is usually made from potatoes combined with just enough flour to hold the dough together.
A small amount of egg yolk is used to give the mixture density and act as a binding agent. It is the use of potatoes that has the culinary world in a whisk, claiming that these delicious morsels are really dumplings.
Whatever your take on this Italian staple, we have two gnocchi recipes (one with potatoes and one without) along with a mafalde pasta dish with veal ragu and cavolo nero to tempt tastebuds during Pasta Week.
What says Spring more than crispy pan-fried ricotta gnocchi with vegetables and salsa verde – Eleven Chef Wayne Leeson serves up this delicious dish which is made from ricotta, plain flour and an egg yolk, making it a candidate for pastability.
Found on Waymouth Street in the heart of Adelaide’s CBD, this Modern Australian restaurant and open-air bar nestles between high-rise buildings, surrounded by greenery and city lights, offering a cosmopolitan experience inspired by the rooftops of New York and laneways of Paris.
Served with snow peas, sugar snaps and asparagus, this is a light, bright and breezy offering that will knock the family’s socks off any day of the week.
Mafalde is a pasta from the region around Naples and it matches really well with the slow-cooked onions and veal in this ragu, which is also traditional in the area. By slowly braising the onions and not letting them get any colour, the sweetness is brought out, marrying beautifully with the soft flavours of the veal.
Brought to the table by Sella Vinotecca Chef Marco Masotti, this recipe can be halved but the risk of colouring the onions is higher – simply freeze half the ragu for another meal, it should last up to three months.
Delivering seasonality and simplicity on the plate, this Italian restaurant, bistro, wine bar and cellar on Barker Street in Randwick has a name meaning ’saddle’ in Italian due to the old horse stables that were housed on the site for more than a century.
Our second gnocchi recipe, from Northbridge restaurant Attimo Chef David Saunders, is made using Desirée potatoes, egg, Parmesan and baker’s flour, topped with a tender braised veal ragu. Located on Sailors Bay Road, this Sydney dining destination serves up tasty meal moments in rustic surrounds of recycled timber, whitewashed brick and potted greenery, setting the ideal vibe for family catchups or romantic rendezvous.
Infused with red wine, sage and pancetta, this dish takes 6-7 hours to slow braise so the veal falls off the knuckle and melts in the mouth along with the soft and fluffy gnocchi.
Whatever your take is on the gnocchi debate…these three recipes will have the famiglia saying grazie!
