The recipes signed by Conosci il tuo pasto's chefs! Thursdays gnocchi!
6 marzo 2014
Silvia Bollotta chef at Osteria Palazzo Barberini of Senigallia, a popular seaside resort on the Adriatic coast in the Marche region in Italy, presents today her homemade potatoes and pistachios gnocchi with wild Mediterranean striped prawns.
The Osteria Palazzo Barberini is a cozy little restaurant located in an old alley of Senigallia. In an intimate dining room with exposed beams and fragrant light wood furniture you are greeted by chef Silvia and Marco as if you were family.
Silvia, who is enthusiastic by nature and constantly in search of new ideas for her
recipes, and Marco, wine lover and expert, travel together around the region during their days off to discover organic products and stories, which will then reach their guests through their food!
In a nutshell: a welcoming and convivial place where to enjoy local traditional recipes, creative dishes infused with the scents of Mediterranean spices, natural and organic wines, good music and good mood!
“Giovedì gnocchi”! (on Thursdays gnocchi!) is a common say in Italy related to the tradition in the past to prepare homemade potatoes dumplings on Thursday. Gnocchi are a very evocative dish for Italians as they recall the gestures generally of
grandmas while preparing them in the kitchen.
Today is Thursday, so let's have the delicate gnocchi recipe flavored with pistachios served with mazzancolle (wild Mediterranean striped prawn) created by Silvia.
And remember.. the secret to prepare gnocchi is to have good starchy potatoes and not to use eggs!
Ingredients, serves 4
900gr organic starchy potatoes
2 and 1/2 cup “00” organic all-purpose flour
250 gr peeled unsalted ground pistachios of Bronte
Sea salt
4 tbsp cold pressed organic extra virgin olive oil
6 medium size organic tomatoes
1 shallot
16 wild Mediterranean striped prawns (mazzancolle)
1/3 cup Cognac to flambé
Fresh marjoram to garnish
Wash the potatoes and put them unpeeled in a large soup pot with cold water . Bring to boil. Cook them until they can be pierced with a knife.
Once they are cool enough to handle, peel their skins off.
Pass the cooked potatoes through a potato ricer to achieve a smooth, uniform texture. Attention! Don't mix the potatoes in a food processor as you will get a gummy and sticky mixture!
Add the grounded pistachios to the riced potatoes and mix it well. Turn out the potato mixture onto a lightly floured surface, and start to add half of the flour. Knead until you have a sticky mass. Keep adding flour a little at a time until the dough is smooth. Perhaps you won't necessarily use the whole amount of flour: it depends on how starchy the potatoes are. But you will feel under your hands the right consistency as the dough will be no more sticky and easy to roll.
Cut the dough into smaller pieces, and roll each section into a long cylinder about ½ inch in diameter. Then cut each cylinder into pieces about ¾ inch in length. Fill a large pot with water. Bring it to boil and add the salt.
Meanwhile prepare the sauce. In a large pan gently fry the fine chopped onion with the olive oil.
Shell half of the prawns pulling off the heads and legs with your fingers, the other half you can leave with shells and heads to give the sauce more taste and color.
When the shallot begins to glisten, add the shrimps and sauté for 2/3 minutes .
Flambé with the cognac. Add the tomatoes previously cut into 0,5 inches cubes. Cook for about 4/5 minutes.
When the water comes to boil, drop the gnocchi into the water. When ready, the gnocchi will float to the surface of the water. Skim them out with a slotted spoon and place in the pan with the sauce. Toss the gnocchi gently for about 2/3 minutes, drizzle with good extra virgin olive oil and serve garnished with fresh marjoram leaves.
Bon appetit!






