Yesterday I received a fantastic potato ricer from Kuhn Rikon. I have some of their products and I really love them. They make colourful and very useful items. I recently bought an avocado knife that is spot on, I can’t image to open an avocado without it now that I’ve tried it :-D, really!
And now I’m in love with the potato ricer: before having this I used a classic steel potato ricer but I really hated it: it was very difficult to clean and every time I riced a potato the little pierced disk came out. The Kuhn Rikon potato ricer is totally different, the disk is well secured so it doesn’t come out and it’s very easy to clean. To try it today I made some gnocchi with parsley pesto.
Potato gnocchi with parsley pesto, smoked cheese and lemon zest
Ingredients
- potatoes: 1 kilo
- plain flour: 300 grams
- medium eggs: 1
- fresh parsley whashed : 50 grams
- Parmesan freshly grated: 60 grams
- extra virgin olive oil: 80 grams
- pine nuts: 40 grams
- clove of garlic: 1
- salt (to taste)
- smoked cheese (or Italian scamorza): 150 grams
- organic lemon: 1
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes, put them in a big saucepan with water and salt and bring to the boil. Then cook for about 30/40 minutes: the potatoes are done when they are tender all the way through. You can test this by poking the potato with a fork or skewer.Peel them while still hot and, using a potato ricer, rice the peeled potatoes directly over the flour. Knead a little then add a pinch of salt and the egg, slightly beaten. Knead quickly until you have a smooth dough. Be careful not to over-knead. Be weary of adding flour at this point. Too much flour will give you hard gnocchi.Shape dough into a long, wide rectangle for cutting,divide dough into 8-10 pieces, about 10 cm long. Roll each piece by gently pushing with fingers spread. The goal is to make an evenly-distributed rope. Using a pastry cutter cut the dough ropes into 1,5 cm pieces. Shape the gnocchi using a fork to create ridges or you can use a gnocchi board. Once ready cover the gnocchi with a tea towel.
- Put in a mortar the parsley, parmesan, pine nuts, a pinch of coarse salt, garlic and about the half of the oil quantity and start working with the pestle, pressing and rotating it, until you have a smooth paste. Add the rest of the oil and mix well.
- Cook the gnocchi in a large pot of salted boiling water. They are ready in 2/4 minutes when they float on the top.Gently remove them with a slotted spoon, drain very well. Toss them in a big bowl with the pesto, the diced cheese and freshly grated lemon zest.
