Spinach Spaetzle

DICK: I guess it looks as if you're reorganizing your records. What is this though? Chronological?
ROB: No...
DICK: Not alphabetical...
ROB: Nope...
DICK: What?
ROB: Autobiographical.
DICK: No fucking way!
(J. Cusack & T. Louiso, High Fidelity)

If I had to reorganize my recipes in autobiographical order, just like John Cusack does with his records in High Fidelity, with no doubt I'd put this in the section College Years. With less than 10,000 Liras you could make dinner for eight people, and it was always a success despite the little familiarity with cooking matters. You would never deny a bowl of Spaetzle to anybody: unpretentious and with no frills, they would instantly create a party atmosphere (big or small, it depended on the number of hours to the final divided by the number of pages yet to be read).
The proper tool came straight from my hometown, and at that time it was the only eccentric concession in a frightening yellow kitchen, that has served too many times as stage for endless scopone scientifico tournaments (traditional Italian card game, N/A) where losers were condemned to wash the dishes for the rest of the week.
Those were the days! There was no Maldon Salt nor High Gluten Flour, fish was a terrifying thought and eggplants were considered an exotic vegetable. And on we went with Spaetzle and Spritz with the olive, everything we wanted was in only four ingredients.
Now I know for sure that these Spaetzle (or Small Spinach Gnocchi, as us profane were used to call them) had been my own ruin, marking the unaware beginning of this culinary madness.

And just like John Cusack in High Fidelity, I too have compiled my own Top Five list. Here are the five flavors that, eyes closed, bring me straight back to my twenties, when it seemed like the world was split between architects and business men, while in the middle lived a whole bunch of Latinists, marine biologists, interpreter from Russian, bookworms, archaeologists, accountants, furious chemists, incurable romantics, paleontologists, mathematicians, oboists, glottologists and aspiring journalists.

5) The Spritz (Aperol with olive, thanks): at 1,500 Liras during happy hour, it was a real attack at public peace;

4) Pasta salad with cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and black olives: that is, the real taste of summer, so popular that someone would even have leftovers for breakfast (not me, it was the architect friend who would never leave us alone);

3) The aforementioned Spaetzle, strictly dressed with butter and parmigiano cheese. Why bother exploring alternatives when this dressing seemed to be the absolute perfection?

2) The custard-filled manina: considered a real luxury for breakfast, the manina could always keep your hopes alive. Warm and buttery, it would reconcile you with the world even when sirens were screaming the beginning of high tide and inside our apartment wind draughts coming who knows from where made the old gas heater seem useless and ridiculous. It helped a lot indeed the fact that right there, in the bakery one floor down, they were selling the best manina of the whole lagoon. Just one flight of stairs, you didn't even need to wear shoes. Is it your turn today?, one would ask right after waking up. Just the time to make coffee;

1) The first place, by common consent of critics and consumers, goes to the one and only Tonolo's Bigne': a true establishment for Venice student population, reward and price to pay for having passed the test, a difficult choice among top 3 (vanilla, coffee or gianduia flavored pastry cream?), a must stopping place coming out of Ca' Foscari (a Venetian palace, where some classes were held, N/A) in those foggy afternoons. Tonolo was able to join in a unanimous chorus all the aforementioned architects, business men, Latinists, marine biologists, interpreter from Russian, bookworms, archaeologists, accountants, furious chemists, incurable romantics, paleontologists, mathematicians, oboists, glottologists and aspiring journalists. Every argument would end in front of its bigne' and - allow me, please - sometimes even in front of its zabaglione-filled fritters.
(see the following comments on the bottom of Pasticceria Tonolo, Facebook Official Fan Page and Appassionati di Tonolo, Non Official Facebook Group:
Tonolo Prperty of Mankind, by M. Gianola, Tonolo Fan; Thanks for being!, by A.K. Bidorini, Tonolo Fan; After 4 years I've been able to eat two fritters filled with Chantilly cream, even living abroad... I was moved!! , by V. Battain, Tonolo Fan; Yesterday I've discovered the bigne' filled with Chantilly cream... my life will never be the same!, by S. Vedova, Tonolo Fan; Tonolo does it better!, by M. Casarin, Tonolo Fan; Utmost respect., by F. Giacometti, Tonolo Fan; Tonolo's bigne' are my drug! The chocolate one is a natural anti-depressant!!, by R. Perenzin, Tonolo Fan; I LOVE Tonolo!!, by V. Massetti, Tonolo Fan; My deepest appreciation to whoever founded this group. And to Tonolo's Sacher, of course, by G. Zornetta, Tonolo Fan).

Pardon the digression, if I remember correctly we were talking about Spaetzle...

Spinach Spaetzle
for 4-5 people

fresh spinach, net about 300 gr.
eggs 3
flour varies, depending on the dough (about 250-300 gr.)
salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste
butter, parmigiano cheese or ricotta salata to dress them to taste

This is one of the very few recipes that I make without a scale, but this time, only for the benefit of the blog, I decided to weigh the spinach. I would have weighed the flour as well, but it slipped out of my hand...
Rinse and dry spinach, discard the toughest stems and puree them in a food processor. Add eggs, salt, pepper and grated nutmeg and then start adding the flour until you get a firm but still moist dough. It's better to do a test, making two small round gnocchi out of the dough and cooking them in boiling water for few minutes: if they hold up, the dough is ready; otherwise you should add a little more flour.
Using the proper Spatzle-maker, set on top of the pot with the boiling water, make the Spaetzle and let them drop in the water, cooking them for two or three minutes. Drain them and dress with melted butter and freshly grated parmigiano cheese.
Spaetzle can also be frozen: simply run them under cold water as soon as you drain them, so that they won't cook any longer, and then divide them in few freezer bags.

[...] facciamo un cambio, prenditi pure
quel po' di soldi, quel po' di celebrità.
Ma dammi indietro la mia seicento,
i miei vent'anni e una ragazza che tu sai.
Milano scusa stavo scherzando,
luci a San Siro non ne accenderanno più.

[...] let's do a swap, you take
that little money, that little fame.
But give me back my Six Hundred (name of an old FIAT car, N/A)
my twenties and a girl you know.
Milan, sorry, I was just joking,
lights in San Siro, they'll never turn them on again.

(R. Vecchioni, Lights in San Siro)

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Today gnocchi.

YUPPIEEEE!

If you, like me, adore sweet potatoes, try this alternative. Just for a change. There's always time to go back to the traditional gnocchi. The result is a brighter and slightly sweet version, which - I have to admit - would fight against meat sauce, but which, on the other hand, doesn't ask anything more than a simple butter and sage sauce. What's better than this?

I'd like to take this opportunity to share a couple of tricks on the subject Perfect Gnocchi, which I've learned throughout the years from my pot friends, both the virtual ones and the real ones. If you've fought against gnocchi for years, like me, desperately trying to get something more than little yellow stones vaguely tasting like potatoes, you could find these three little tricks very useful.

• Do NOT boil potatoes. DO bake them in the oven instead: they will be less moist and will absorb less flour;
• Do NOT use eggs. Trust me. Do NOT use eggs. They don't do anything, except maybe making gnocchi more yellow... They might be cuter, but on the other side adding eggs makes the dough wetter and forces to use more flour. Trust me on this, potateos alone will be sufficient for the dough;
• Do NOT put salt in the dough. Salt makes potatoes watery, and, again, it forces to use more flour.

I swear, since I've discovered the aforementioned Three Golden Rules of Gnocchi, my life has changed. For the better.

Even if at the end of this all, there's always a famous Aunt Andreina, who makes the best gnocchi in the world and who doesn't give a damn of these rules. But that's another story.


Sweet Potato Gnocchi
for 4 people

russet potatoes, medium size 2
sweet potatoes, medium size 2
flour exact quantity varies, depending on the dough
parmigiano cheese, freshly grated 2 tablespoons
salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste
butter, fresh sage and parmigiano cheese for the sauce to taste

Wrap potatoes in some foil, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 450 for about 45 minutes, until they are soft to the touch (one more advice, pay attention not to cook them too long, they shouldn't come apart).
Peel potatoes and smash them, transfering them in a large bowl. Let them cool completely before starting to work the dough.
After they've cooled down, season potatoes with salt, pepper, nutmeg and a couple of tablespoons of freshly grated parmigiano cheese (yes, I know that just two lines above I was telling you NOT to use any salt in the dough, but I think that in this version with sweet potatoes it's better to use a pinch of salt, especially if the sauce is very simple, like in this case). Add flour gradually and work the dough until it comes together, it's smooth and slightly wet. At this point, it's better to do a test, cutting out a couple of gnocchi and cooking them in a pot full of simmering water, to see if the dough holds. If not, add more flour and keep working the dough until you get the desired consistency.
Lightly dust the work surface with flour, take a piece of dough and rolling it with your hands, form a 1/2-inch-thick rope. Cut gnocchi out of it and make ridges on one side of them, rolling them down fork tines one by one and lightly pressing with your fingers (for this job you could also resort to the proper tool, the famous yet useless Gnocchi-Scorer, which I bought several years ago, struck by an uncontrollable drive). Keep going like this until you finish the dough.
Cook gnocchi in boiling salted water and drain them as soon as they come floating to the surface. Dress them with melted butter, cooked with few fresh sage leaves, and sprinkle them with freshly grated parmigiano cheese.

Orange Scented Ricotta Gnocchi

Give me some fresh cheese and you'll make me happy. Ricotta, crescenza, mozzarella, stracchino, I like everything that is white, soft and creamy.
When I was a kid, my fridge at home was always full of aged cheeses, XTRA aged I'd say, the very rich ones, with a strong taste and an intense smell, so to speak....Instead, I would often dream of crossing a river of milk riding a mozzarella, can you imagine? Or wandering through the sky on a soft cloud, just like Heidi (for those of you who don't know, she's a famous cartoon character), only, my cloud was made of crescenza and was resting upon a slice of bread.

I like these gnocchi because they are very delicate. And on top of that, it takes very little time to make them, they are really easy and the dough is not sticky at all, that way you won't have to spread flour all over the place. But the best part is that they are always a success, they come with a warranty certificate.
Unlike potato ones, which - I don't remember how many times now - came out like little pieces of stone or, even worse, magically vanished right after I put them in boiling water.
These gnocchi instead never betray you. Satisfaction guaranteed!


Ricotta Gnocchi
with Orange Zest
for 4 people

fresh ricotta 500 gr.
egg yolks 2
grated parmigiano cheese 3 or 4 tablespoons
flour, as needed
small oranges 2
butter, salt, nutmeg, sage, smoked ricotta to finish

Let ricotta drain overnight on a fine sieve or wrapped in cheesecloth.
When it's nice and dry, put it in a large bowl, add yolks, salt, grated orange zest, nutmeg and parmigiano cheese to taste. Mix well, then start working the dough with flour, adding just enough to make it firm. Do a test by cooking a couple of gnocchi in boiling water, and check if they hold up. If needed, add more flour.
Divide the dough in pieces and roll them out to form long skinny logs, cut them in 1-inch long pieces and mark them with a fork or using the proper tool (you don't have to, but when gnocchi have lines on the surface, they retain the sauce better).
Cook the gnocchi in boiling water and strain them right after they come back to surface. Dress them with brown sage butter and sprinkle with smoked ricotta.