Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms

By Fresh2

Contributed by Andrew Carmellini

Chef Way Andrew Carmellini cooks homemade gnocchi in his own intense mushroom stock, then serves them with porcini butter (blended with garlic, herbs and Parmesan) and white-truffle shavings.

Easy Way Store-bought gnocchi and chicken stock fill in for the homemade kinds. The topping: Parmesan cheese and truffle oil.

Ingredients

• Gnocchi
• Rock salt, for baking
• Two 12-ounce Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• Mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 pounds mixed wild mushrooms, stemmed if necessary and thickly sliced (10 cups)
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1/4 cup dry vermouth
• 3/4 cup chicken stock or low-sodium broth
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon chopped thyme
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 pounds fresh or frozen prepared gnocchi
• 6 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon white truffle oil (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Gnocchi
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a small baking pan with rock salt. Pierce the potatoes with a fork and place on the salt. Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until tender.
2. As soon as the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them and pass them through a ricer into a bowl. Let the potatoes cool.
3. Lightly dust a baking sheet with flour. Stir the eggs, the 1 cup of flour and the kosher salt into the riced potatoes. Gently knead a few times to form a dough that just holds together. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 piece of the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick rope. Cut the rope into 1/2-inch pieces and transfer the gnocchi to the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough. Refrigerate the gnocchi for at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.

see below for cooking instructions

1. Preheat the broiler. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat the olive oil with the butter. Add the mushrooms and shallots and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until browned, 12 minutes. Add the vermouth and cook until evaporated. Add the stock, cream and thyme, season with salt and pepper; bring to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the gnocchi until they float to the surface, about 3 minutes. Drain well. Add the gnocchi to the mushrooms and simmer, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in 1/4 cup of the Parmesan and sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan on top.
3. Broil the gnocchi 6 inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Drizzle with truffle oil and serve.




Suggested Pairing

Silky, cherry-inflected Valpolicella.