Soft, homemade miniature potato pillows wrapped with a creamy pesto made from broccoli stem leftovers, fresh basil, pine nuts and parmesan, this is simply delicious. A nice way to use up broccoli stalks, often thrown out for their tough texture. The truth is once peeled, this part of the broccoli is a wonderful ingredient to use in your pesto, and you get to enjoy much of the same nutrients as the broccoli florets.
Serves 4
4 potatoes, medium size
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
2-3 broccoli stems
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 cup olive oil + extra
Salt & pepper for seasoning
1. Wash, peel and cut potatoes into cubes. Steam them for 20 minutes, then smash them into puree. If you won’t have a potato ricer, don’t worry. You can achieve a seamless potato puree by first smashing the steamed potatoes, and then pushing the smashed potato through a sieve with the help of a tablespoon.
2. In a large bowl, mix potato puree, the egg and the flour until a soft sticky dough forms.
3. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle some flour on top. Cut the dough into 8 even pieces. On a lightly-floured counter, roll each piece into a log about 1 inch thick. Cut each log into individual bite-sized little gnocchi squares. Transfer to the baking sheet.
4. If you feel adventurous and have time, you can shape the gnocchi using a gnocchi board. The ridged surfaces will allow the sauce to adhere better. Place the gnocchi on the top of the board, then with a knife just push and roll. If your dough is too sticky, just roll it quickly in flour. Transfer to the baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
5. Cut off and discard the stem end.
6. Peel the broccoli stem with a dice peeler to remove the outer layer which is tough. In most cases, it’s easy to see exactly what needs to be cut off, since the peel is a pale green that is noticeably darker than the tender heart of the stem inside. Make sure to remove all outer peel as it is unpleasant and tough to eat.
7. Roughly cut tender broccoli stems and place it into a blender. Blend for a minute. You should have about 2 cups of chopped broccoli stem.
8. Place chopped broccoli in a skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper, combine, and let it sweat for 5 minutes. At the end of the cooking process, you should have 1 cup of broccoli stem.
9. Meanwhile, place in a mortar the pine nuts and smashed into until it becomes a paste.
10. Add basil leaves with salt and ground until all leaves are broken down.
11. Add 1/4 cup of parmesan and 1/8 cup olive oil and combine with a spoon.
12. Place broccoli and pesto into a cleaned blender and blend for a minute until a creamy broccoli pesto forms.
13. Fill a medium size saucepan with water and bring to a boil.
14. Add gnocchi and gently stir so that they don’t stick. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes or until all gnocchi are floating.
15. Preserve 1/2 cup of gnocchi water.
16. Place a skillet over high-medium heat, add broccoli pesto, 1/2 cup of gnocchi water and combine.
17. Add cooked gnocchi and stir for a minute until all gnocchi are coated with creamy pesto.
Cheers Xx
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