gnocchi with clams
drowned in beurre blanc and sautéed agretti
Gnocchi's key points:
Don’t add all the flour at once as not all the potatoes are the same. The higher the water content of the potato is, the more flour is needed, but if your potatoes contain little water already, you might need less flour than expected
If you add too much flour to the potatoes, the dough won’t be soft, and the gnocchi will be dense
Sift the flour before adding it to the potatoes to obtain a lump-free and light dough
Include an egg to help the dough hold its shape when rolling and cooking
Remember to season water for cooking potatoes and add a pinch of salt to the dough
A potato ricer and a dough scraper will be useful here
Be gentle and don’t overwork the dough, otherwise, the gluten develops too much, making the dough gummy
Take care not to overcook the gnocchi or they could disintegrate (cook them until they rise to the surface)
Gnocchi with clams in beurre blanc and sautéed agretti
Serve: 4 portions
Ingredients:
Gnocchi:
500g red potatoes
100g finely ground flour such as 00 flour + some more for dusting
1 small egg
sea salt
Agretti:
200g agretti
unsalted butter
sea salt
black pepper
Clams:
500g clams
30g white wine
25g unsalted butter
1 parsley stalk
sea salt + water for soaking
Beurre blanc (emulsified butter sauce):
30g white wine vinegar
50g white wine
1 shallot
50g heavy cream
200g butter
2 swirls of agave syrup
black pepper
sea salt
Toppings:
fennel fronds
fresh parsley
Method:
Gnocchi:
Add potatoes (without peeling) to a pot with heavily salted water and bring it to a boil. I simmered the potatoes for around 20 minutes (the time depends on the size of your potatoes). Once the potatoes are ready, transfer them onto a clean surface and leave them to cool down for a few seconds. Skin while warm so the peel comes off easier. I recommend holding a potato in a kitchen towel so you don’t burn your hands and then scraping the peel with a small knife.
Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer onto a chopping board or a counter. Let the riced potatoes cool down, allowing the moisture to escape so that less flour is needed. Add half the amount of sifted flour, beaten egg, and a pinch of salt.
Gently incorporate all the ingredients together with your hands so that they’re evenly distributed (use a dough scraper to help you with this). Feel the dough and use your instinct - if it’s way too sticky add more flour, fold it in, and shape a cohesive ball.
Clean and scrape off your working surface with a dough scraper from any small floury bits.
Lightly dust the counter and split the dough into 5 even parts. Form long ropes by rolling out the dough with the palm of your hand rather than your fingers (otherwise you end up with uneven thickness). Cut into 1 cm gnocchi using a scraper (if your scraper is not sharp enough, use a knife instead). Sprinkle with a little bit of flour.
Agretti:
Cut off the pink root and clean the vegetable under cold water as it tends to often be covered with soil.
Sauté agretti in butter over low heat. Season with salt and black pepper. Substitute with samphire if you can’t get any agretti, but do not salt samphire.
Clams:
Inspect the quality of the clams. Get rid of the ones that have any cracks. If there’re any with an open shell, tap it on a counter - if it closes, you’re good to use it, if not, discard it.
Whisk two tablespoons of sea salt in cold water and let it dissolve. Submerge clams in water and soak them for around 1 hour. Purging them gets rid of any impurities such as grit and dirt. After one hour, you’ll notice how much comes to the surface or stays at the bottom of the bowl (see the photo below). Wash the clams one by one under cold water.
Heat a pot over medium to high heat and melt butter. Add clams, a parsley stalk and white wine. Cover with a lid immediately to create steam and cook for around 8 minutes until all the shells open. If you notice that some of them are still shut after cooking - throw them away.
Beurre blanc:
Brunoise a shallot. Cut butter into 1cm squares (the butter must be cold).
In a small pot, add the shallot, white wine vinegar and white wine. Cook until the liquid reduces and you are left with a tablespoon of the liquid.
If it’s your first time making beurre blanc and you worry about splitting the sauce, add cream to stabilise it and then, reduce it by half.
Over low heat begin adding a few pieces of butter while whisking vigorously (emulsifying) until all the butter melted. Keep an eye on controlling the temperature - if you notice the pan heats up too much, take it on and off the heat (you should be able to touch the bottom of the pot with your hand).
Continue adding more butter, whisk and remember not to bring it to a boil. Take it off the heat, and check the consistency - it should be thick, creamy, and smooth.
Taste and season with salt. Pass through a strainer.
Beurre blanc is a type of sauce served warm, not hot. To keep it warm, transfer it to a plastic container. Fill up a metal bowl with hot water (about 40°C), and place the plastic container with the sauce inside it. Whisk the sauce before serving, and if it thickens too much, add a teaspoon of cold water, and mix again.
Chiffonade parsley:
Chiffonade is a French term for a cut technique of herbs or other flat vegetables such as basil, mint, spinach or parsley into thin strips.
Step by step:
Remove the stems
Align a couple of leaves on top of each other on the chopping board
Roll the pile of leaves tightly (resembling a cigarette shape) and thinly slice it with a sharp knife
Use it as a garnish
Cooking gnocchi and assembling:
Bring a medium pot with salted water to boil.
Place gnocchi in a fine mesh strainer and shake off any excess flour that clung to them. Add the gnocchi to the boiling water (in small batches), give a little stir, and cook until they float to the top (usually not longer than 2 minutes).
Drop the agretti and clams into a frying pan and warm up over medium heat quickly, then, turn off the heat and add beurre blanc. Fish out the gnocchi with a spider and transfer them to the pan with the rest of the ingredients. Toss lightly. Top with fresh parsley, fennel fronds, and ground black pepper.
If you’re planning to use gnocchi later in the day, drain and combine them with butter or olive oil so they don’t stick to each other.
