Gnocchi

with Roasted Tomato Sauce and Bottarga

Makes 4 servings

It took me a lot of practice to learn how to properly make gnocchi. My education started at Union Square Cafe, where I would overwork the gnocchi dough and end up with heavy, dense dumplings. Once I learned how to use a lighter hand when making and rolling the dough, I achieved the result I was searching for: soft, pillowy dumplings. Some tips I picked up along the way: Rice the potatoes when they’re still warm, then let them cool down to room temperature. Once you’ve made the dough, let it rest for about 10 minutes, but then roll it out and cut your gnocchi right away—they’ll get mushy if you let the dough sit around too long. Cooking the gnocchi is easy: Once they float to the surface of the simmering water, wait 1 minute, then pull them out. You can serve the cooked gnocchi right away, or toss them in olive oil and freeze them.

Roasted Tomatoes

Makes about 3 cups

Preheat the oven to 325°F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Drizzle the olive oil on the baking sheet and scatter the garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper over. Place the tomatoes, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Transfer to the oven and roast, pouring off (and saving) any accumulated juices and removing any loose tomato skins every 30 minutes or so, until the tomatoes have shrunken slightly but are still juicy, about 2 hours. Transfer the tomatoes and any accumulated juices to a storage container; discard the garlic and herbs. The roasted tomatoes can be covered and refrigerated for a few days.

Gnocchi

Preheat the oven to 450°F and set a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet. Wrap the potatoes individually in aluminum foil and place on the rack. Bake until tender when pierced with a knife, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. Unwrap the potatoes and, when cool enough to handle, peel. Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer into a bowl. (You can also use a food mill with the smallest holes, or a potato masher, to do this, but a ricer will give you best results.) Cover the potatoes with plastic wrap, pressing it onto the surface, and let cool to room temperature.

Spread the potatoes out on a clean work surface and sprinkle with the salt. Beat the egg yolk, then spoon it over the potatoes. Use a bench scraper or metal spatula to “cut” the egg into the potatoes. Sprinkle the flour over the potatoes and use the scraper to blend the flour into the potatoes. Gently work the dough into a ball and knead a few times until it’s smooth and slightly sticky (the trick is to not overwork it, which results in gummy gnocchi). The dough should spring back slightly when you poke it. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment and dust with flour. Cut the dough into four pieces. Take one piece and roll it on a floured work surface to a ½-inch-thick rope. Use a bench scraper or knife to cut the rope into ¾-inch pieces, then transfer to the parchment. Repeat until all the dough is used up. Using a fingertip, gently press a small indentation in the center of each gnocchi.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Working in batches, poach the gnocchi in simmering water until 1 full minute after they begin to float. Drain, saving a cup of cooking water. If you’re using the gnocchi right away, transfer to a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and toss to coat. If you want to make the gnocchi ahead of time, first shock them in ice water until cool, then transfer to a baking sheet and coat with olive oil. Refrigerate the gnocchi for a few hours, or cover with plastic and freeze, then transfer to a large freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 1 month. (Reheat in simmering water until warmed throughout.)

For Serving

  • 2 cups chopped Roasted Tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 red finger chile, finely chopped (with or without seeds)
  • ¼ cup thinly sliced basil
  • Kosher salt
  • Cooked Gnocchi
  • 1 lemon wedge
  • Bottarga or Parmesan cheese, for grating
  • ½ cup Spicy Breadcrumbs

In a large skillet, heat the tomatoes until the juices are simmering (add a splash of the gnocchi cooking water if your tomatoes aren’t very juicy). Add the butter and stir until melted. Add the chiles and basil and turn off the heat. Season the sauce to taste with salt. Stir in the cooked gnocchi and squeeze some lemon juice over. Divide among serving bowls and grate some bottarga or Parmesan over each serving. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and serve.

The Takeaway

Bottarga is cured and dried fish roe, usually from the grey mullet or sometimes from bluefin or yellowfin tuna. This ancient preservation technique has been around for at least 2,000 years and has informed food cultures from the Mediterranean to the Middle East and Asia. I love using it as an alternative for grated cheese; it has the same umami-forward flavor of a well-aged Parmesan. A lobe of bottarga is a worthwhile investment; it’ll keep forever, and you can grate or shave it over all sorts of dishes, from roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes to pizza and pasta. You can usually find bottarga at a good fish market, and it’s widely available online.