Turin Epicurean Capital: Spring gnocchi

Happy Easter 🐇to all our friends who are celebrating it and happy spring to all of you coming out of the cold months. As you know, in Italy, our fashion and tables follow the weather and so, we are sharing one of our 🌷 spring gnocchi recipes.

Our 🎃pumpkin gnocchi recipe is here and our 🐰 ginger carrot gnocchi recipe is here.

This recipe can easily be done by young and old, it is relaxing, full of color, fibers and flavors! Just like most of our risottos, you can make it vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian - omnivore / carnivore, lactose and gluten-free too.

For best flavors, you need fresh ingredients and naturally you also need time as you'll be hand making these beautifully delicious dumplings.

Zucchini Gnocchi with Herbs

The following recipe is an easy people pleaser and it will satisfy most tastes and dietary restrictions.

Our doses are for 2 non-Italian portions within a basic menu = 4 regular Italian portions within a full menu of appetizer, second dish of fish or meat, side dish and dessert.

You can double the doses or roughly estimate:

100gr of zucchini

100gr of flour*

100gr of raw asparagus per person

*the amount of flour you'll use will depend on the kind of flour(s) (rice, oat, wheat, or other) and if you choose to add herbs and milled seeds, and how watery your zucchini are.

Therefore, we recommend to keep some extra flour in case you need to add more.

😇You can make these gnocchi ahead, portion and freeze them for up to a month in a sealed ziplock freezer bag, or you can boil them and serve them right away!

Equipment:

- a food processor.

If you only have an immersion blender, you'll have to manually add the flour(s) and fold it in by hand;

- a fork for the ridges if you want to make them - however, they aren't vital

- a knife or stainless steel dough scraper /cutter to cut the gnocchi logs

- a stainless steel spider skimmer or a Chinese steel mesh basket to scoop them out of the boiling water

- a large tall pasta pot

fresh peas and mint leaves

🍃Basic version also vegan and gluten-free:

zucchini: 452gr / 1lb
oat or/and rice flour: about 450gr / 3 Cup (yes, you can use a mix)
salt: a pinch
some room temp water

👉Use regular wheat /white flour if gluten isn't a problem

Optional for all versions:

fresh ginger: about 0.5 tsp - 3 grams
mint and / or basil: 30gr / 1 Cup
turmeric powder: 1/8 tsp - very small amount
pepper: half the amount of the turmeric
milled seeds of your choice - in amounts of your liking to calibrate with the amount of flour(s)

To garnish:

peas: 80 grams / 0.5 Cup
asparagus: 230 grams / 0.5 lb
evoo: 2 or 3 tbsp
nuts of your choice

Optional for vegetarians, flexitarians/omnivores:

pesto
grated Parmigiano Reggiano Dop
European unsalted butter
chopped nuts: walnuts, pecans, hazelnuts, Brazilian nuts (filberts), roasted peanuts
pine nuts
goat cheese or any cheese of your choice

If you have access to Piedmont cheeses, try:

Robiola di Roccaverano DOP - 🍃vegans can have it too because the Roccaverano goats 🐐 are protected by the Italian government and can't be exploited. However, any robiola cheese from Piedmont will do, Castelmagno DOP

Raschera DOP

Bra tenero DOP (soft),

Montebore aka Leo Da Vinci's fave cheese

Maccagno DOP

Optional for flexitarians / omnivores:

Italian prosciutto / bacon / pancetta bites - the instructions are here

Instructions:

Wash and paper towel dry your zucchini and herbs
Wash and chop your asparagus, if using them
Boil your peas and /or asparagus, drain and set aside, if you are planning to use them
chop your zucchini
in your food processor, purée: zucchini, herbs, fresh ginger, pepper, salt and 2-3 tablespoons of water
start adding the flour and mixed milled seeds in separate steps and blitz OR move the zucchini purée to a large bowl and add flour(s) and milled seeds.

👉Your final dough has to be elastic and soft: if you are using the food processor, you may have to finish adding flour(s) and seeds by hand and knead by hand.

☝If your dough is too watery, simply add more flour(s) and seeds, if it is too dry, add more water

✋gnocchi-making instructions:

on a floured board, cut the dough into 4 or more sections depending on the amounts you are making and how many people are helping you
roll each section down into a 3cm /1.5inch wide log, roughly
cut the log into 3cm /1.5 inch long gnocchi with a knife or a stainless steel dough cutter /scraper

your gnocchi are ready to be boiled, but:

if you wish to make them with ridges, quickly roll them on the back of a fork
if you prefer to make them like spheres, just roll them between your palms

📅If you aren't cooking them right away, move 1 or 2 portions (depending on the size of your tray and freezer) over on a floured tray and then into your freezer for about 20min. the dumplings need to be distanced so they freeze separately.

Then put them into a ziplock bag marking the date you freeze them.

Repeat for all the portions you need.

When the time comes, just boil them 👇 and when they float, they are ready.

🐇If you are serving them right away - or whenever you choose to have them:

boil them in a large tall pasta pot, gently stir them every 2-3 minutes; when they float they are cooked
scoop them up with a stainless steel pasta skimmer or a Chinese stainless steel mesh basket into a serving tureen or dish
add your boiled peas and / or asparagus

🍃vegan: add chopped nuts, seeds and 1 TBSP of evoo per person

🍳vegetarian:

a) serve these gnocchi with pesto, or

b) per portion: with 0.5 TBSP of evoo and 1 tsp of unsalted butter, 1 TBSP of chopped nuts and grate some parm on top of each portion before serving, or

c) simply fold in the cheese and top each vegetarian portion with 1 TBSP of chopped nuts and / or seeds. Yes, you can also add some grated parm on top!

🐽flexitarians / omnivores will enjoy some Italian prosciutto /bacon /pancetta bites on top of their goat cheese and nuts.

Pairings

You can easily pair these zucchini and herb gnocchi with any white or red beer and any white wine of your choice, however, we recommend you look for a 🍷Piedmont wine to create a true Piedmontese atmosphere!

Piedmont whites:

- Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG

- Arneis DOC aka 'white Barolo'

Piedmont reds:

- Dogliani DOCG