Last night I dreamt I was a red balloon. Bumbling, topsy turvy, gusting and thwarting without any direction. Flying, bouncing, an elastic version of weightless wind.
I felt free. So happy. Another bounce and I was off the Pacific coast, a purple sunset peaked the horizon.
Why can’t all dreams be this good? Why can’t all food be this enticing? I suppose the answer comes in the form of a nonsensical nuisance. We can’t appreciate the best dreams or tastes or moments without having a profound awareness of the less than ideal kinds, can we?
The day bumbled on and I found myself back on this thought when running (entranced on the treadmill through a portion of Nagano Japan) with my favorite trainer – Tommy Rivs. He referred to a memento written by Ernest Hemingway. In a paraphrase of a paraphrase…He went on to say ‘It’s not noble to elevate yourself beyond other people, there is only nobility in elevating yourself beyond prior versions of yourself.’
Beautiful? Appropriate? Resonating with every beat of my heart and tread.
Today I had no direction in the kitchen.
I stared aimlessly at my bowls of tubers and alliums. A few thoughtless moments later…mindfulness hit. And I made Gnocchi.
Ingredients for Gnocchi and Brown Butter Sauce:
- 1 large sweet Japanese yam (iridescent purple exterior and white/yellow flesh)
- 3-4 large orange or yellow carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 cups AP flour, plus more
- 3 sprigs rosemary (1/2 of 1 minced and the other left on the stem)
- 1/2 stick salted butter
- 1/2 cup parmesan, finely grated
- Salt, pepper, EVOO
Method
Wrap yam in tinfoil and drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 450 degrees for 1 hour, or until soft enough to mash.
Meanwhile, boil water in a large dutch oven. Boil carrots in salted water for 20 minutes or until very tender. Don’t throw away the water.
Peel yam and place flesh in large bowl. Add carrots to yam. Mash until well incorporated.
Add yolks, parm, flour, minced rosemary and season liberally with salt and pepper.
Knead dough (this may be easier done in a KitchenAid with the dough hook attachment.) The consistency will be a lot like wet play dough. Super fun to play with.
Roll out dough onto floured board and cut into cubes.
Re-heat the carrot water and bring to a boil. Cook gnocchi in batches, ensuring not to overcrowd pot, until they float to the surface – about a minute. Remove with spider.
Place on parchment lined sheet tray and season lightly with salt.
While you continue to cook the gnocchi, heat a small pot on medium low with the butter and whole rosemary sprigs together. The milk solids in the butter will separate from the water and turn brown.
Drizzle this rich sauce over the gnocchi, add more parm and serve immediately.
These gnocchis weren’t made by an Italian 80-year-old nonna with war torn hands and flour bleached hair, but they were a better version than all my previous gnocchis. And they were delicious..
Now that you’re thinking about pasta, perhaps you’d like to try my Tagliatelle with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto, Hazelnuts and Burrata or this hearty Turkey Calamarata bake. I also have this really delicious Rigatoni with Drunken Pepper Sauce, Chicken Sausage, Kale and Ricotta.
