Saffron Gnocchi - Chef Recipe by Alessandra D'Angelo

Ingredients

1 kg Dutch cream potato
0.3 g saffron powder
250 g-300 g flour 00
20 g salt

Zucchini and broccoli purée:

2 zucchini
1/2 leek
2 large heads of broccoli
3-4 fresh mint leaves
Salt to taste
100 g extra virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper to taste

Cherry tomato sauce:

500 g cherry tomatoes
1/2 leek
70 g extra virgin olive oil
50 g white wine
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
8 fresh basil leaves

To serve:

8 fresh basil leaves
Handful toasted pine nuts

Method

Saffron gnocchi:

Scrub the potatoes (whole, with their skin on). In a large pot, arrange the potatoes in a single layer and cover them with at least 5 cm of water. Season the water with 1 tablespoon of salt and set the pot over medium-high heat. Once the water begins to boil, partially cover the pot and cook the potatoes until tender, about 25 minutes.

Once cooked, drain the potatoes. Peel and cut each potato into small pieces. Set them aside to allow the steam and moisture to escape, letting them cool slightly. Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle (but not cold), pass them through a potato ricer onto a clean, flour-dusted surface.

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, begin incorporating the flour and saffron mixture, using a light touch to mix until you form a dough that feels light and pliant. If the dough is too soft and sticky to handle, sprinkle in another tablespoon or two of flour.

Slice off a piece of dough about the size of a tangerine. Lightly flour your palms and roll the dough into a rope about the thickness of your finger. Continue slicing and rolling out all the dough, using a knife to cut the ropes into 2 cm pieces. Sprinkle flour over the gnocchi and set them aside.

Once the dough is completely cool, work on a flat surface with flour mixed with saffron powder. Form 2 cm diameter cylinders and cut them into 2 cm pieces.

Zucchini and broccoli purée

After washing the vegetables, cut the broccoli into small pieces and blanch them in slightly salted water. In a non-stick pan, heat the oil and sauté the leek, cut into thin rounds, using only the white part, for about 3 minutes. Then add the zucchini, sliced into thin rounds, and the blanched broccoli (reserve the cooking water).

Sauté everything for a bit longer, then cook over low heat until the vegetables are tender, occasionally adding a bit of the broccoli cooking water. At the end of cooking, add the mint leaves and adjust with salt and pepper. When the vegetables are still warm, blend them with an immersion blender and set aside, keeping warm.

Cherry tomato sauce:

After washing the vegetables, cut the cherry tomatoes in half and the leek into thin rounds. In a non-stick pan large enough to hold the gnocchi, heat the oil and sauté the leek over a medium-low flame for 3-4 minutes. Add the wine and let it cook off completely. Add tomatoes, basil leaves and let it cook on medium heat until the tomatoes become soft. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve:

Bring salted water to a boil in a sufficiently large pot. Once the water boils, drop the gnocchi in a little at a time. When they rise to the surface, they are cooked. Gently transfer them into the pan with the hot tomato sauce and sauté them, allowing them to absorb the flavours for a few minutes before plating.

For each plate, spread a quarter of the vegetable purée (still warm) to form a base. Place a quarter of the gnocchi and their sauce on top, and garnish with a few basil leaves and a sprinkle of toasted pine nuts

Recipe provided by Funghi e Tartufo