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The dish
Gnocchi, but from Abruzzo
The L’Aquila touch is all in the sauce.
Gnocchi are one of Italy’s best-loved dishes, and in central Italy there is even the tradition of «Thursday gnocchi». But do you make the sauce with castrato mutton? We do: and that makes them Abruzzo gnocchi through and through.
The recipe for the «perfect gnocco» is my mother-in-law’s, the sauce is Ale’s: and we work largely by eye. The quantities below are enough for four, although at our house two of us make them disappear.
What you need
Ingredients
Serves 4.
For the gnocchi
- 1 kg potatoes
- 500 g plain (00) flour
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch of salt
For the sauce
- 500–600 g castrato mutton, in pieces
- 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 celery stick
- 1 glass of wine (red or white)
- 700 g tomato passata
- Extra virgin olive oil, salt
- Grated parmesan and fresh chilli to serve
Step by step
Method
- For the sauce: make a soffritto of chopped carrot, onion and celery with a little oil.
- Add the castrato and brown it well; deglaze with the wine.
- Add the tomato, bring to the boil, then lower the heat, cover and cook for a long time, until the meat is tender (at least two hours). Season with salt.
- For the gnocchi: boil the potatoes whole, in their skins, in salted water until a fork goes in easily.
- Peel and mash them with a potato ricer; let them cool on the board.
- Add flour, egg and salt and knead into a soft, smooth dough.
- Roll it into ropes and cut them to the size you like (we make them nice and plump).
- Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water and lift them out as soon as they float.
- Dress them with the sauce, plenty of parmesan and a little fresh chilli.
From our home kitchen
Tips
- The potatoes should be floury and dry: the more water they hold, the more flour you need and the heavier the gnocchi.
- Cook the gnocchi a few at a time, so the water keeps boiling.
- Make some extra: pan-fried the next day with a little oil they get a crust that is out of this world.
- The meat from the sauce can be served as a main course, just like with Sunday ragù.
Try it and see: gnocchi pan-fried the next day are even better than the first time!
Gallery
Photos
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Tradition
History and trivia
Potato gnocchi spread across Italy after the arrival of the potato, and in mountain Abruzzo they found their natural match in sauces made from mutton and castrato, the shepherds’ meat.
In L’Aquila families gnocchi are the dish for cold days: they are made together, with the children helping to cut the ropes of dough.
Did you know? the saying «Thursday gnocchi» is common above all in central Italy: in many trattorias in Rome and Abruzzo gnocchi are still the dish of the day on Thursdays.