For the last several years we’ve centered our New Year’s menu around the potato. It always feels appropriate to ring in a New Year by celebrating true humbleness and versatility. We’ll end this year and begin the next with some intention setting, book reading, wave watching, and gnocchi making.
This meal is easy (only 7 basic ingredients), inexpensive, and most importantly—comforting.
“You are
gentle and profound,
honorable
like
hands
that till the soil.
…fill the plate
with the repetition of abundance
and tasty earthy simplicity…”
Excerpts from Oda a las Papas Fritas and Oda a la Papa by Pablo Neruda
Potato gnocchi with sage butter
RECIPE
3-4 russet potatoes, washed
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 egg
1 tsp salt, plus more for cooking liquid
6 tbsp unsalted butter
3 fresh whole sage leaves, washed
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake potatoes until soft, about 50 minutes. *This can be done the night before and cooked potatoes can be placed overnight in the refrigerator which will make them easier to peel. Peel cooled potatoes with a vegetable peeler or paring knife. Push potatoes through a potato ricer (large setting) or mash thoroughly with a fork until smooth.
Add flour, salt, and egg to potatoes and mix with your hands until smooth. Add flour as needed to keep dough from sticking.
Roll dough into 1/2″ thick ropes and then cut ropes into 1/2″ x 1/2″ sections. Roll dough sections down grooves of gnocchi board, allowing them to drop onto your single layer baking sheet. *Gnocchi can be refrigerated for several hours or sealed and frozen for up to a month before cooking.
Bring 4 quarts of water to low boil in a large pot. Add salt to taste.
Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. Add full sage leaves and continue stirring for 1-2 additional minutes, until butter has turned slightly brown and has a rich, nutty aroma.
Add gnocchi to the boiling water and cook until they float (1 1/2 to 2 minutes, 3 minutes for frozen gnocchi). Retrieve cooked gnocchi with slotted spoon and transfer to pan with butter. Toss thoroughly to coat evenly and scoop into serving bowls. Top with grated parmesan, serve, and enjoy.
