gnocchi

Gnocchi is a very simple potato pasta.

Potatoes – 2lbs, peeled
Flour 3/4-1 cup if baking potatoes, 1 1/2-1 3/4 if boiling potatoes
1 egg

Peel potatoes and slice into big chucks and boil gently until mashable, or bake on 350 until mushable.

If you have a ricer, that is great; if not, mash your potatoes as finely as possible, then add the egg and some salt

Add flour

Knead until combined, but do not overmix, adding any flour as needed. As always, start with less and work your way up.

Get a salted pot of water gently boiling

Grab a small handful of dough while keeping the rest covered with a wet towel, and roll out the dough into 1″ cylinders. I use non-stick spray when rolling, but you can use flour.

Use a pastry cutter to cut them into bite-sized pieces and roll smooth; it is optional to roll with a fork to create indentions, or you can even buy a gnocchi board for about $10.

Boil for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Once they all float, I give it 20 seconds. I like mine al dente though you can cook it farther depending on preference. Scoop and drain them, and set on parchment paper.

Sautée in butter or lard and use whatever sauce you choose

(Scroll down past the Goulash to see Gnocchi recipe)

Goulash is a stew originating from Hungary. While the base ingredients are the same, you add some more to make it your own. Look at my recipe to see if you want anything to add to yours, follow mine, or even check out other blogs for ingredient ideas (this is what i did)

The base ingredients:

Olive Oil
Onions
Garlic
Paprika
Bay leaves
S & P
Meat – can be chuck, or any type of meat for stew. I used “pork stew meat

Other common ingredients include:

Bell peppers (mainly green)
Carrots
Caraway seeds
Thyme
Marjoram
Sausage

I added everything above plus

Cumin
Maggi Würtze Seasoning
Diced Roma tomatoes
Sauerkraut

Recipe

Amount of ingredients I used in order of usage (Warning: will be very filling and can omit sausage if you care about eating light(ish)). As I said before, you can use different types of meat, but whatever you use, chop into big bite size pieces.

Big splash of oil for veggies
1 onion, medium, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
3 carrots, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2-1/2 lbs of pork stew meat

Big splash of White wine vinegar (sub apple cider vinegar for a different flavor because apples go great with pork)
1/4 cup of Maggi Würtze
Spices
3 bay leaves
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
32oz Sauerkraut
1lb smoked sausage, sliced thin

Spices are unmeasured but in order of amount with 1 being highest

Paprika
Thyme
Marjoram
Cumin
Caraway Seeds

In order to start the Goulash, I started my mirepoix with some Olivenöl on medium heat just to lightly sautée the vegetables. Then, add the stew meat and the garlic and lightly brown it (the meat). I deglazed with Würtze Seasoning and some White wine vinegar. Next, add the beef stock and the spices. Bring to a boil then turn to a simmer.

Then, take the sliced sausage into a separate pan and cook on high heat with some oil to give it nice color. (This can be done at the same time as stew meat, but I wanted more color on the sausage).

Add the sausage, tomatoes and bay leaves and let simmer for at least 3 hours. Season more every 30 minutes or so until it is full seasoned. Pull off heat when hungry and enjoy!

I made a side of Prebanac (will be in Serbia category or added later to this post).

gnocchi—Goulash can be served with a grain or potato product such as egg noodles or gnocchi.

The gnocchi will be in a post of it’s own but for the sake of convenience, gnocchi is made with:

2 lbs of potatoes
1 to 1-1/2 cups of flour. You are looking for a somewhat moist dough but firm enough where you can handle. Start with 1 cup and work your way up to 1-1/2
1 egg
Salt

Gnocchi is very easy to make. Boil the peeled potatoes for about 40 minutes. You want them to be mashable. If you have a ricer, pass them through the ricer after boiled.

After, mix the potatoes, egg and salt in a bowl. Then add flour, mix into 1 solid mixture, then put onto a floured surface. You can now tear off parts of the gnocchi mixture and roll into a long snake then cut the snake into inch pieces; or just tear off each individual piece (like I did) and shape into whatever you feel like.

Boil the gnocchi for about 2 minutes, or until they rise to the top and sit there for a minute or two. As with everything; for the first time, work in small batches so in the case of failed results you have less wasted products. You can always boil more but you can’t bring back mush. When boiled, pick them up with a handheld strainer, strain them, then put them on parchment paper to soak up any excess water.

I like to sautée a small batch when ready to serve in 1 tbsp of butter in a small pan, just to brown them a little for that nice crust.

Tag: gnocchi

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Gulyás – Goulash