Vatican City: Gnocchi Al Vaticano

Name: Vatican City: Gnocchi Al Vaticano
Total time: 2 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Vatican City
Ingredients: Potatoes: 1 1/4 pounds; egg: 2; egg yolks: 2; flour: 1 1/2 cup + more as needed; parmesan cheese: 3 oz; butter: 1/3 cup; sea salt: 1 tsp; fresh basil: 1 cup; pine nuts: 3 Tbsp; garlic: 1 large clove; parmesan cheese: 1/4 cup; olive oil: 1/3 cup; salt and pepper; yellow onion: 1 medium; garlic: 1 large clove; portobello mushrooms: 2/3 cup; fennel: 1 small bulb; cherry tomatoes: 10; white wine: 3 Tbsp; butter: 4 tbsp; parmesan cheese: 2 oz

Cuisine:

Vatican City

Ingredients

For the Gnocchi
1 1/4 pounds Potatoes
Peeled; I recommend Yukon gold
2 egg
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 cup + more as needed flour
I needed a SIGNIFICANT amount more than that
3 oz parmesan cheese
finely grated
1/3 cup butter
softened
1 tsp sea salt
For the Pesto
1 cup fresh basil
3 Tbsp pine nuts
toasted
1 large clove garlic
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
grated
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
For the Sauce
1 medium yellow onion
finely chopped
1 large clove garlic
minced
2/3 cup portobello mushrooms
sliced
1 small bulb fennel
thinly sliced
10 cherry tomatoes
halved
3 Tbsp white wine
To Finish
4 tbsp butter
2 oz parmesan cheese
grated

Directions

For Father’s Day, it only seemed appropriate we visit the Vatican. Located within the city of Rome, Vatican City is the smallest country in the world by both size (0.17 square miles) and population (840, circa 2016). Officially Vatican City State, it has been an independent city state since 1929, under the sovereignty of the Holy See.

Here’s a really bad photo I took when I was at the Sistine Chapel, because telling me I can’t do something makes me want to do it.

And here’s a photo of us outside the Vatican, right before I was told I’d have to wrap my shawl around my legs if I wanted to go in.

Nearly all the citizens are either clergy or members of the Swiss Guard. The uniform of the Swiss Guard, seen above, is custom tailored and hand sewn from 154 fine wool sections of cloth, which sounds almost as work intensive as this gnocchi. The tiny country does not have a district culinary history, and there are very few restaurants within the Vatican walls. The cuisine is mostly Italian, with perhaps some influences from foreigners living within the city. In fact, I was somewhat shocked to find a Vatican cookbook at the library, describing the favorite recipes of numerous cardinals, members of the Swiss Guard, and even a couple Popes! I went with a classic sounding recipe – “Gnocchi Al Vaticano” – apparently the favorite dish of Cardinal Pietro Parolin, appointed in 2013 as Secretary of State of the Holy See – thus the virtual “Prime Minister” of the Vatican.

This was the first time I’d ever made gnocchi from scratch before, and let me tell you – I let some words slip that the Pope would not approve of. The process is incredibly labor intensive, involving peeling and boiling potatoes, making the dough, rolling it out, cutting it, indenting it, boiling the dumplings and then pan frying them in butter. Oh, and then there is the homemade pesto for which I used an entire basil plant. I struggled a great deal to get the dough to stick together, and ended up using far more flour than the recipe called for, fearing I’d messed up the consistency of the gnocchi. There was (and in all honesty, kinda still is) flour all over the Messy Kitchen, and I swore up and down as I finished up that I would never make homemade gnocchi again. Then I took a bite of the perfect pillows of heaven and promptly changed my tune. Ironically, we went to a very well-regarded Italian restaurant the night after I made this, and while very enjoyable it quite frankly just couldn’t compare. Perhaps the layer of flour that seems to be permanently crusted to my countertop was worth it after all.

Recipe Source: The Vatican Cookbook

Steps

1 Done	For the Gnocchi Peel and boil the potatoes; you want them cooked but not mushy. Press through a ricer into a bowl and mix in the eggs, yolks, flour, parmesan, butter and salt. Knead into a soft dough, adding more flour as necessary to make the dough come together.
2 Done	For the Gnocchi Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Break into about four balls. Roll the first into a 3/4" diameter rope. Cut into pieces - about 1". Use a fork to indent each piece and set aside on a plate. Repeat with all the dough.
3 Done	For the Gnocchi Boil water in a large sauce pan. Add salt. Cook the gnocchi in batches. You will know they're done when they rise to the top, about 2-3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
4 Done	For the Pesto Combine the fresh basil leaves, toasted pine nuts and garlic in a food processor or blender and pulse a few times until coarsely chopped. Add the parmesan. Finally, add the olive oil, drizzling in a little at a time while blending. Season with salt and pepper.
5 Done	For the Sauce Prepare all the veggies as noted. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and fennel and saute for another 3-5 minutes. Add the white wine and the tomatoes and cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove from pan and stir in the pesto.
6 Done	To Finish Heat 2 Tbsp butter in a large skillet until it starts to sizzle. Add 1/4 of the gnocchi (you can do this in larger batches depending on the size of your pan, but you don't want to overcrowd) and let cook for a couple minutes. Flip and cook on the other side. Set aside on a plate. Repeat with remaining gnocchi.
7 Done	To Finish Stir the cooked gnocchi into the sauce. Divide onto plates and garnish with grated parmesan and a sprig of basil. Enjoy!