05.15.09
The Gnocchi Taste Test
It has been a while since I have reported on a test-kitchen scenario on this blog. Heck, I think the only time I really remember doing that here was back when I was working on different varieties of butternut squash soup. But in my continued research as part of writing my cookbook, I came across in my various notes and cookbooks a collection of different ways to make gnocchi. I was astonished. I really thought this was one of those recipes where the culinary jury had handed in its verdict long ago: the potatoes are boiled and you then proceed with making gnocchi.
But much to my surprise, I found several sources, all of which I consider to be very trustworthy, that had different methods of cooking the potatoes. Some said to boil, some said to steam and some said to oven-roast them. But what I found most interesting about these differences was the one thing they all had in common - they ALL said, no matter which cooking method they advocated, to cook the potatoes whole, with the skins on, and then peel them afterward. Interesting.
 Three cooking methods, three pots and pans, three times the clean-up. |
So this called for a little test-kitchen magic! I knew that I didn’t like gnocchi made from 100% russet potatoes, and I found ones made from Yukon golds are a tad waxy. So I first measured out the potatoes to a 50-50 mixture by weight between these two varieties. (About 1 large russet to 2 medium Yukon golds.) One batch I steamed, one batch I boiled and one batch roasted away in a 350 degree oven.
 Mmmm… 3 gnocchi. How can I be so generous?… |
As the potatoes finished, I noted the cooking times that it took for each method, and began to peel them and pass them through a food mill to make them wonderfully smooth (very necessary when making gnocchi). I measured in equal amounts of flour, salt and pepper into each batch and began the wonderful process of hand-rolling out the batches. But first, I made sure - as one must always do - to test cook a few from each batch to make sure I had enough flour mixed in. It is a delicate balance with gnocchi - too little flour, and they will fall apart in the cooking water. Too much flour and they will be heavy, gummy dumplings with no potato flavor at all.
 Gee, I hope I made enough… |
Once I was convinced I had the right flour to potato ratio for the batches of gnocchi, I rolled them all out and assigned them numbers so that my tasting committee would not know which cooking method had resulted in which batch. From my tasting of the test gnocchi, I was pretty sure I knew which one I would like the best, but I wanted to see what others had to say as well.
 What are you talking about? There’s no way this photo was staged! |
The taste test was simple enough. I cooked up small batches, dressed them all with a simple tomato-cream sauce I had whipped up on the side (one of the best gnocchi accompaniments known to man), and gave them score sheets to make notes on the different batches. I wanted to know what they thought of the flavor, the texture, the mouth-feel and so forth. So keeping the batches straight (I hope) they passed down their verdicts.
While it is of course impossible to have 100% agreement on which was the best, the strongest performer was by far the gnocchi made from the steamed potatoes. I also thought this one was the best, and at the end of the day, doesn’t my opinion matter the most here, seeing as how it will eventually be my name on the cookbook? Though I do have to admit, I was happy to see that my taste panel backed up my opinion by giving strong numbers to the steamed potato batch as well.
 Obligatory beauty shot. Those really do look awesome… |
So there we have it. I have a technique for making gnocchi, and it was actually different from the one I thought would be the obvious winner. In fact, had I not done this research, I probably would have just advocated boiled potatoes for my gnocchi - the way I have always done it up until now…
While writing a cookbook is turning out to be a lot of hard work, all the same, it is a ton of fun when I get to do experiments like these. Especially ones that result in having a few tons of leftover gnocchi to enjoy!
P.S. For those of you hoping to see my final gnocchi recipe here, please I have to save SOMETHING for the cookbook, don’t I?…
Stumble it!
