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Home Food & Drinks Recipes Cooking Venetian-style gnocchi au gratin à la Gennaro Contaldo

Venetian-style gnocchi au gratin à la Gennaro Contaldo

Recipe
Italian Cuisine

Gennaro Contaldo, mentor to well-known top chefs, uses a historical Venetian preparation in his recipe and adapts it slightly for modern cooking.

The Editors
Gnocchi were already being prepared in the Middle Ages. However, the original recipe only used flour and water. It was only later, when potatoes were introduced to Italy in the 16th century, that gnocchi gradually began to resemble the dumplings we know today. This recipe is based on a very old Venetian dish that was traditionally sprinkled with cinnamon and raisins. I have adapted it a little and use butter and parmesan instead. - Gennaro Contaldo

Ingredients (2 servings)
50 g Butter
250 ml Milk
200 g Italian wheat flour (type 00; pizza flour)
1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg
35 g Parmesan, grated
some vegetable oil for greasing
Sea salt
Mixed salad to serve (as desired)
  • Preheat the oven to 180 °C (fan oven)/200 °C (top/bottom heat). Grease a round (22 cm ⌀) or square baking dish (20 cm sides) with approx. 10 g butter and set aside. Lightly oil part of the work surface.
  • Bring the milk and 15 g butter to the boil in a non-stick pan over a medium heat.
  • Reduce the temperature, then add the flour, nutmeg and a little salt and whisk together. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture onto the oiled work surface. Wait a few minutes until the mixture has cooled slightly. Then knead carefully until a soft dough forms.
  • Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1 cm using a rolling pin. Use a round cookie cutter (4 cm ⌀) to cut out the gnocchi. Knead the leftover dough together and roll out again until all the dough has been used.
  • Bring the water and salt to the boil in a large pan. Then add the gnocchi in batches and cook until they rise to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a lightly oiled board or baking tray to cool. Then layer the gnocchi slightly overlapping in the greased oven dish. Spread the remaining butter in flakes and sprinkle with Parmesan.
  • Bake the gnocchi in the oven for 25 minutes until golden brown. Remove, leave to rest for 5 minutes and serve.

Tip:

  • Whisk the gnocchi mixture well with a whisk or electric hand mixer so that no lumps form.
© Pavillon Books
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