Fall is the best time to get back to the kitchen and cook, and what's more therapeutic than working with your hands? What gives you more satisfaction than something you can share with your family and friends and that you can make into a large batch and freeze to keep handy for any occasion and impromptu feast?
Our answer is gnocchi!! 🙆
Gnocchi can also be very versatile and make everyone happy - read virtually any dietary restriction will allow a version or another.
As avid yogis and pilates practitioners, when cooking or baking, we try to keep sodium and gluten as low as possible, minimize the use of eggs, maximize the use of fresh ginger and turmeric with pepper as often as we can 🙌
Flour wise, we also try to explore the use of new flours like chestnuts, rice, buckwheat, bran, spelt, bulgur, virtually anything we can find and don't know much about.
After all Italian cuisine evolves too and not only in a molecular variant but also in many other nutritional and fusion directions.
Some years, in Turin we enjoy summer weather up to mid-October, others we get a November preview as early as August. Wherever you are in the world, you might have access to carrots and fresh ginger and can do our ginger carrot gnocchi whose flavor is very similar to the ginger carrot soup but a lot more fun to make!! 🙈
Quantifying the portions can be hard as humidity can play a big role, if you can more than you need: freeze what you aren't eating right away!!
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb - 500 gr of carrots you'll make about 6 large Italian portions of gnocchi, this estimate is given within a full meal that includes a second course. Peel them and steam them. You'll know they are ready when a fork will pierce them easily.
- 1 tsp of peeled fresh ginger
- 3 cups of white flour + extra in case your dough is very sticky
- optional: other flour you like or boiled lentils (1 cup)
- 1/4 tsp of turmeric
- a couple light sprinkles of black pepper to activate the turmeric
- optional: any other spice you love
- some fat source to absorb the turmeric: EVOO, butter, cheese, any vegetable oil/butter
- kosher salt for the boiling water
- optional: some chopped nuts, seeds or parmesan cheese to top your gnocchi before serving
- optional: balsamic vinegar and soy sauce for an 'uncharted Italian flavor' that celebrates the Asian community in Italy and all the Italians living and working in Asia 👏
After cooling down your steamed carrots, dry the extra moisture with a fabric towel, transfer them into a blender and purée them together with the fresh ginger, turmeric and pepper.
If you are planning to add the lentils too, add them now so they will all blend together.
Line one counter top with plastic wrap for an easy cleaning session at the end of your gnocchi making - you'll lightly flour it so the gnocchi won't stick to the plastic.
Or simply flour any resting surface including the area you are going to knead the flour(s) in to make your gnocchi dough.
If you have a non-slip silicone mat that's perfect!!
Knead in the flour cup by cup, it is hard to tell in advance how much you will need because it depends on how much water the carrots retain and if you are adding some lentils too.
If you are using more than white flour, rec you add 2 cups of white flour before switching to 1 cup of another kind and proceed this way.
When the dough isn't sticky anymore, divide it into 6-7 small balls. If you are working with kids, this is the fun part!! If you are cooking with other family/friends, get them to work too 😅 to speed the gnocchi making process.
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| gnocchi float to surface when cooked and ready to be eaten! |
Roll the orangy dough balls down into 0.5in.-1cm thick long sausages. With a knife or dough scraper cut the 'gnocchi snake' into about 0.5 in. -1cm long dumplings.
If you want you can roll them, one by one, on a fork to make the ridges or you can just boil them smooth. It all depends on what you are planning to serve them with 😏
Whatever topping or sauce you choose, keep in mind these gnocchi will taste very similar to a ginger carrot soup so you don't want to overwhelm their nice flavor of carrot and ginger accent 😉
Lightly cover the gnocchi into flour and let them rest at some distance on the plastic lined counter top or on a non-slip silicone mat. If you already know how many to freeze, transfer that amount of distanced floured gnocchi into your freeze for about 3h.
Boil them in a very large pot of salty water: gnocchi will need a lot of extra space to cook and float freely.
When they are ready, they'll float to surface and you'll scoop them out with a Chinese skimmer/strainer - the best to leave all the water down - directly into your plates/bowls.
We personally love very simple flavors. We found these gnocchi had their own identity and wanted to preserve it and celebrate it by topping them a blend of EVOO, balsamic vinegar and soy sauce to add a bit of saltiness that was lacking.
You can def play with the ingredients that inspire you, add some cheese, seeds or chopped nuts to add a crunchy texture 😋
Wine pairings
We recommend you use some fruity white wine or mild blonde craft beer.
Look for the following white wines from Piedmont:
- Favorita DOC especially if you enjoy these gnocchi in a nice sunny weather, with temps about 70F/18C
You can also buy our very own made in Piemonte Baladin beer at Turin airport!
All our other craft beers are available at the breweries and shops, click here for 5
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| our gorgeous Galleria San Federico, one of our 3 gallerias in Turin |
We loved them and share them with our guests in Turin all year a long!! The best part is they don't bloat your stomach like other gluten rich pasta does, so they are a great choice for all foodies!
For our private tours, cooking classes, yoga/piloga classes, Italian classes in Torino, e-mail Lucia: turinepi@gmail.com
I wish for the great of success in all of our destiny endeavors
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