Gnocchi in Ghost Pepper Parmesan Sauce

I've got to say that I'm pretty surprised that I'm now making my own gnocchi. It took me a few tries and tweaks, but I finally have a recipe down that works well. I would have never thought that I'd be able to make my own gnocchi that actually turned out as good as the one's I've had in authentic Italian restaurants. Also, I don't mean to brag, but I was super excited that my recipe worked! The thought of making gnocchi from scratch was a little intimidating for me, even though the process isn't very hard. It's actually way easier than fresh pasta since it's less time consuming, and doesn't require a pasta machine. I was just concerned that it wouldn't turn out light and fluffy, much like little delicious potato pillows they ought to be, but to my surprise it turned out perfect!

When making gnocchi, it's all about filling the potato dough out, and working with it to make sure that you're adding just enough flour, and not too much. Please avoid over kneading the dough for sure. You want these to be light and not dense so that when you boil them they float up in a few minutes. I've found that the trick is adding a little bit of flour at a time, so that you can work with the moisture from the potatoes just enough to keep it light. Also, I'd highly recommend 00 flour for making gnocchi. 00 flour is a finer flour that creates a silkier texture for the gnocchi. You can get 00 flour from local grocery stores or order it from Amazon.

In the past, I've added herbs in the gnocchi dough, however, I couldn't really taste the herbs in the gnocchi, so now I just add all the herbs and spices in the sauce itself. The other thing I've started doing is pan frying the gnocchi in a little butter. I personally prefer to sear the gnocchi to a light to medium brown color. This gives the gnocchi a perfect little crisp from the outside, and potatoey filling from the inside. That texture goes so well with my ghost pepper parmesan sauce.

The ghost pepper parmesan sauce is pretty quick to make as it takes less than 5 minutes to prepare. However, you need to be careful while making this sauce. First of all, use a flat pan or skillet, otherwise the liquids won't evaporate properly, and the sauce won't come together. Naturally, parmesan cheese is not a "melting cheese" so when you make this sauce, you'll want to be careful in how you incorporate your ingredients. The reason being is that once the broth evaporates, the texture can get rather sticky, and won't remain runny. I recommend that you add the broth a little bit at a time as I've mentioned in the recipe below. By adding the broth slowly, you can thin out the mixture and achieve the creaminess that you need for this sauce. If you add the broth all at once, the ingredients will separate, and you will have a hard time to get the sauce to come together. Also, the broth and the cheese are salty, so do not add salt. Anyhow, try it out and hope you enjoy!

---

Gnocchi in Ghost Pepper Parmesan Sauce

Ingredients:

- gnocchi (see recipe below)

- 6 tbsp of unsalted butter

- 10 cloves of garlic (minced)

- 1/2 tsp of ghost pepper paste

- 1 cup of Swanson vegetable broth

- 1.5 cup of Sargento shredded parmesan cheese (plus more for garnishing)

- 2 tbsp of minced fresh oregano

Directions

1 - In a flat pan, melt the butter over medium to high heat.

2 - Throw in the minced garlic and ghost pepper, and stir fry for about a minute.

3 - Add 1 tbsp of the minced oregano.

4 - Add 1/2 cup of vegetable broth and let it boil.

5 - Add the parmesan cheese and melt it together in the pan to make a creamy sauce. Add the rest of the broth slowly a little bit at a time to avoid it from becoming too thick.

Note: Add more broth if you'd like to thin it out more.

6 - Add the gnocchi and mix it all up. At this point, the sauce should stick to the gnocchi very well.

7 - Serve the gnocchi with fresh parmesan and minced oregano on top. Enjoy!

---

Gnocchi

Ingredients:

- 3 to 4 russet potatoes (boiled) - roughly 2 cups

- 1 large egg

- 1 tsp of salt

- 1 tbsp of EVOO

- 1.5 cup of 00 flour (plus more for rolling & dusting)

- Large pot of water (for boiling)

- 4 tbsp of unsalted butter (for pan frying)

Directions

1 - Using a ricer, rice the potatoes in a bowl, and pile them on a clean counter (you will need about 2 cups of potatoes riced).

2 - Sprinkle 1/2 cup of 00 flour over the potatoes.

3 - Sprinkle salt over the flour.

4 - Drizzle the EVOO over the mixture.

5 - Crack an egg in the middle .

6 - With a scrapper, start mixing everything to bring the dough together.

7 - At this point, your mixture will still be sticky, so you'll want to add the remaining 00 flour, 1/4 cup at a time and incorporate it into the dough.

Note: Do not overwork the dough.

8 - Form a smooth ball, and cut the ball into 10 to 12 parts.

9 - You may use a light sprinkle of flour when rolling out the gnocchi to avoid it from being sticky. Roll out the gnocchi and cut them into 1 to 2 inch pieces, sprinkle a little flour and set them aside on wax paper.

10 - Let the gnocchi dry for at least an hour.

11 - Bring the water to boil, add about a tsp of salt and a tsp of oil to the water.

12 - Throw in half of the gnocchi and cook until they are all floating up in the water. This should take approximately 3 to 4 minutes.

13 - While the gnocchi is boiling, in a flat pan, melt 2 tbsp of butter on medium to high heat. 14 - Add the boiled gnocchi to the pan, and toss it around for a few minutes until the gnocchi has light to medium sear.

15 - Repeat steps 11 to 14 for the rest of the gnocchi.

16 - Set gnocchi aside in another plate while you prepare the ghost pepper parmesan sauce, which you can use the same pan to make it in.