photo by george billard

Gnocchi means “lumps” in Italian. Not an especially glamorous name, and I can’t say the ones I made were nearly as ethereal in texture as those we ate at Union Square Cafe (see 12/18 post). This traditional Italian dish has been around for a couple of thousand years at least, spread through Europe by the Roman Legions and made according to whatever was at hand: potatoes, wheat flour, semolina, bread crumbs, ricotta. The French even make a version with choux pastry, but that’s neither here nor there. I made mine with a delicious sheep’s-milk ricotta and served them with a rosemary-infused brown butter, but I suspect they may have suffered slightly because I used gluten-free flour. They were perhaps not as light and springy as they will be for you, using unbleached all-purpose. Next time, I may try gnudi instead, as they call for less flour (but also require that you drain the cheese and refrigerate the dough at several points), or perhaps just pair the gnocchi with a heartier sauce (roasted tomato? porcini mushroom?) that can stand up to the slightly denser gluten-free texture. Read the rest of this entry »