A Taste of Italy: Gnocchi

Until the mid 19th century, Italy was made up of city-states (separate kingdom) that occupied the peninsula and even today their government is made of many political parties. The first great ruler of Italy was Charlemagne who brought Frankish culture into Italy and gave power to the Church of Rome. Italy has become a very diverse culture with many cultures over the past who mixed their traditions with Italian customs. Jewish people came during the period of the Roman Republic, then Germanic tribes after the fall of Rome. Then during the 17th century, Austrians ruled Italy's biggest cities, Sicily, where many other cultures have already invaded. Today, each of Italy's regions are different, but linguistically the majority all speak Italian. Food customs, as it is in many countries, are the same, where any guest who visits will always be offered great hospitality and food. Food is a time to catch up with friends and family. Italian cuisine varies on each region, in the north, meals tend to be lighter and in the south, there is richer and heavier cooking. A favorite comfort food of many Italians is a dumpling called gnocchi that has been around since Roman times. Gnocchi can be made with potato flour, wheat flour, spinach, ricotta, or cheese. Gnocchi is pretty simple to make, but to save time, people can buy gnocchi at any local supermarket in the international foods aisle or frozen aisle. Here is a recipe to make a delicious tomato sauce gnocchi (if you don't want to make from scratch, buy frozen gnocchi in any Italian or local supermarket and boil in water):

Gnocchi (potato based)
Ingredients
3 pounds russet potatoes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg, extra large
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup canola oil

Boil the whole potatoes until they are soft (about 45 minutes). While still warm, peel and pass through vegetable mill onto clean pasta board.

Set 6 quarts of water to boil in a large spaghetti pot. Set up ice bath with 6 cups ice and 6 cups water near boiling water.

Make well in center of potatoes and sprinkle all over with flour, using all the flour. Place egg and salt in center of well and using a fork, stir into flour and potatoes, just like making normal pasta. Once egg is mixed in, bring dough together, kneading gently until a ball is formed. Knead gently another 4 minutes until ball is dry to touch.

Roll baseball-sized ball of dough into 3/4-inch diameter dowels and cut dowels into 1-inch long pieces. Flick pieces off of fork or concave side of cheese grater until dowel is finished. Drop these pieces into boiling water and cook until they float (about 1 minute). Meanwhile, continue with remaining dough, forming dowels, cutting into 1-inch pieces and flicking off of fork. As gnocchi float to top of boiling water, remove them to ice bath. Continue until all have been cooled off. Let sit several minutes in bath and drain from ice and water. Toss with 1/2 cup canola oil and store covered in refrigerator up to 48 hours until ready to serve.

Tomato Sauce:
Ingredients

1/3 cup tomato sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove

Add 1/3 cup of tomato sauce and simmer in a pan for about 5 minutes. For a delightful addition, add a few slices of porcini mushrooms. Crush the garlic and sprinkle on or add Parmesan cheese, then put into the oven for a few minutes to warm. Enjoy with some fresh fruit juice or lemonade!


sources: http://www.everyculture.com/Ge-It/Italy.html http://www.world-food-and-wine.com/italian-gnocchi.html http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/gnocchi.asp