Gnochi de Pommes de Terre

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Potato ricer or food mill
• •Large heavy pot
• •Wooden spoon
• •Slotted spoon
• •Clean lint-free kitchen towel
• •Shallow 1½-quart gratin dish
• •Dinner fork

Instructions

1. 1

   Ready the kitchen

   Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C) with a rack in the upper third. Use 1 teaspoon of the finishing butter to coat a shallow 1½-quart gratin dish. Grate the Gruyère, melt the remaining finishing butter, beat the whole egg with the yolk, and weigh the flour and seasonings. Keep everything beside the stove. This mise en place matters because hot potato will not wait.

2. 2

   Cook potatoes à l'anglaise

   Put the potatoes in a large pot with 3 quarts (2.8 L / 2.8 kg) cold water and 1 tablespoon (⅝ oz / 18 g) coarse salt. Cook them à l'anglaise, boiled in salted water, at a steady gentle boil until a knife passes through without resistance, about 18 to 22 minutes. Drain them the instant they are tender, then return them to the dry pot over low heat and shake for 30 to 60 seconds. Their surfaces should turn dry and floury, never wet or glossy.

   If moisture still gathers on the pot floor, keep shaking over low heat for another half-minute. Dry potato needs less flour, and less flour means lighter gnochi.
3. 3

   Work the hot purée

   Pass the potatoes immediately through a ricer or food mill into a warm bowl. Beat in the softened butter, fine salt, pepper, and nutmeg with a wooden spoon. Add the beaten egg and yolk in two additions, stirring briskly after each, then scatter over the scant ⅔ cup (76 g) flour and fold only until no dry streaks remain. Do not knead. The mixture should be very warm, soft, and barely tacky; prolonged working develops the flour and turns tenderness into bounce.

4. 4

   Fork the gnochi

   Fill the cleaned pot with the remaining 3 quarts (2.8 L / 2.8 kg) water, add the remaining 1 tablespoon (18 g) coarse salt, and bring it to a boil while you shape. Divide the warm mixture into about 24 walnut-sized portions. Roll each lightly between floured palms, then press it gently with a fork in one direction and again across the first marks to make the source's criss-cross pattern. Dust your hands, not the mixture; pouring extra flour into a merely tacky dough makes it heavy.

5. 5

   Test and poach

   Slip one gnochi into the boiling water as a test. Moderate the heat to a steady, quiet boil, and cook until the piece rises, then give it another minute. If it holds, poach the rest in batches of six so the water never cools or churns violently. If the test piece clouds the water and begins dissolving, fold 1 tablespoon (8 g) of the rescue flour into the remaining mixture and test again, adding the second spoonful only if necessary. Ça se rattrape. Lift each finished batch with a slotted spoon onto a clean towel-lined tray; a colander lets their own weight crush them.

6. 6

   Build the gratin

   Arrange half the drained gnochi in the buttered dish and sprinkle with half the Gruyère. Add the remaining gnochi, cover with the remaining cheese, and bedew the surface liberally with the melted butter. Apply the Gratins (No. 268) finish by baking for 8 to 12 minutes, until the cheese is butter-gold, the ridges are bronzed, and the edges bubble. If the edges are ready but the top remains pale, place it under the home broiler for 30 to 60 seconds, the honest equivalent of a salamander, and watch without blinking.

7. 7

   Settle and serve

   Let the gratin stand for 3 to 5 minutes. The brief rest lets the butter and cheese settle around the gnochi without stealing their softness. Bring the baking dish directly to the table and serve generous spoonfuls while the forked tops remain crisp at their edges. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose a floury potato such as a russet. A waxy potato holds more moisture and asks for more flour, which is exactly the bargain we don't want to make.
• •Use a ricer, food mill, or fine sieve, never a food processor. Fast blades rupture the potato cells and turn the hot purée elastic and gluey before the flour even arrives.
• •The source calls simply for grated cheese. Gruyère is the practical home choice here because it melts evenly, browns well, and keeps the potato, butter, pepper, and nutmeg in command.
• •Serve the gratin beside roast chicken, a pork chop, or braised greens. It can also carry a weeknight plate with a sharply dressed bitter-leaf salad; cooking well is not cooking fancy.

Advance Preparation

• •Grate the cheese, weigh the flour, beat the egg and yolk, and butter the gratin dish several hours ahead. Do not cook the potatoes until you are ready to mix and shape; the raw mixture cannot wait in the cold without losing the quality this method is built to protect.
• •The gnochi may be poached, drained, layered with the cheese, covered, and refrigerated for up to one day. Add the melted butter immediately before baking and allow about 5 extra minutes in the oven; the texture will be slightly firmer but still generous.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 195g)