Rustic Roman Gnocchi with Rosemary Potatoes

This recipe is made in three stages, each in the Dutch oven, and then you mix everything together at the end & serve. This way the juices don't soften the texture of the Gnocchi, and the flavors merge at the end. The potatoes will get a better caramelizing texture is you cook them separately.

Roman style Gnocchi is pan friend, versus the traditional Gnocchi which is cooked by blanching in hot water, similar to how you would cook other pastas.

It’s delicious, & the Gnocchi dough can be made weeks ahead of time (see my recipe here Pumpkin-Potato Gnocchi) & freeze/defrost for later use. The recipe shows the steps to prepare the pumpkin gnocchi, & the sauce I made with it.

Rustic Roman Gnocchi with Rosemary Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 pint fresh Mushrooms-sliced thinly

2 cloves whole fresh Garlic-(unpeeled-but slightly smashed)

¼ teaspoon green Peppercorns

3 cups Fingerling or other small Potatoes (cut into half)

4-5 sprigs fresh Rosemary

2 ½ cups uncooked Gnocchi

6 tablespoons Butter-(divided into 3 batches)

4 teaspoons Olive oil-(divided in half)

Sea Salt

Step 1:

In a Dutch oven, heat to medium high, melt 2 tablespoons butter, 2 teaspoons olive oil, garlic & 2 sprigs of Rosemary. Add potatoes, sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt & black pepper, & cover. Cook for about 2-3 minutes at a time, tossing potatoes so that they cook evenly. Once thoroughly cooked, appearing firm, yet soft when pierced with a fork, remove from heat & allow to cool for 10 minutes covered. Remove from pan & place in a large serving dish, covered in plastic wrap to retain heat.

Step 2:

In the same Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of butter, & sauté mushrooms with a pinch of sea salt & pepper until tender. Remove & add to potatoes. Cover.

Step 3:

In the Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 more sprigs of rosemary, & 2 teaspoons of Olive oil on medium heat. Add gnocchi in two batches. Sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt. Cook evenly without gnocchi touching one another, in one layer. Turn them over half way to cook the underside.

The appearance should be a golden brown, forming a thin crust on the outside, but still soft & fluffy on the inside. I cooked my gnocchi in two batches. Otherwise, only about half of the recipe will cover the pan at one time. Remove from heat, toss with mushrooms & potatoes, and sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese. Serve.  

Roasted Sweet Potato-Carrot Mash

I served this at Christmas dinner, rather than my usual cheesy potatoes. It was a nice variation, & much healthier. The sweet potatoes and yams inclusion made it really sweet, even though there is no sugar added. The carrots were a really nice touch. All of the veggies were from my last Bountiful Baskets order. Yummmmm!

Roasted Sweet Potato-Carrot Mash

Ingredients:

2 medium sized Yukon Gold Potatoes

2 large Sweet Potatoes

2 large Yams

3 Rustic Carrots (yellow, red, & orange)

3/4 cup Heavy Cream

Salt & Pepper

3 tablespoons Butter

1 cup Chicken stock

1 cup water (Optional)

Directions:

Begin by washing, and peeling the carrots & potatoes. Slice all of the potatoes lengthwise in a horizontal direction. Preheat oven to 375. Grease a cookie sheet with sides, with a little olive oil.

Roast the carrots & potatoes for about 20-25 minutes, Turning at least twice, so they don’t burn or develop a hard crusty exterior.

Remove potatoes & carrots from baking sheet & dice into large bit sized pieces. Add salt & chicken stock to a large pot & cook potatoes, and carrots in stock over a medium-low heat until tender. You may need to add a little water as they cook down, to avoid burning. Stir regularly. Once finished, using a potato masher, mash them into a fine pulp. Add butter, & cream. With a hand style blender finish blending until the mixture has a creamy consistency & all lumps are gone. Season with salt & pepper.