Swede gnocchi with miso butter
If you want to use shop-bought potato gnocchi instead of making your own, you are more than welcome to – the miso butter will transform them. If, however, you choose to make our swede and potato gnocchi, which have a seductive bitter-sweetness to them, we can make your life slightly easier. Instead of rolling and cutting the gnocchi, which can be messy, we spoon the mixture into a piping bag (you can use a Ziploc bag), snip off the end and squeeze them directly into simmering water. It’s a nice trick that also makes the gnocchi lighter because you don’t need the extra flour to roll them with.
Morning glory is an Asian leafy green; its hollow stalks make it the perfect vehicle for the sauce. It’s available in most Asian supermarkets, but if you can’t get hold of it, large-leaf spinach will also work well. The gnocchi mixture can be made the day before and stored in a piping bag in the fridge until you are ready to cook. You can also boil the gnocchi the day before and keep them refrigerated, ready to be fried the next day.
Recipe from Ottolenghi FLAVOUR published by Ebury press. Photography by Jonathan Lovekin
Serving size
4 as a main
Ingredients
1–2 Maris Piper potatoes, skin on (400g)
2–3 small swedes, peeled and cut into roughly 2cm cubes (600g)
70ml olive oil
1 egg yolk
150g ‘00’ grade pasta flour
500ml vegetable or chicken stock
200g morning glory (or large-leaf spinach), roughly chopped into 8cm lengths
1 tbsp white miso paste
1 lime finely grate the zest to get 1 tsp, then juice to get 2 tsp
5g fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
50g unsalted butter, cut into 1½cm cubes
2 spring onions, thinly sliced (30g)
1 tsp white sesame seeds, toasted
salt
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C fan.
2. Wrap the potatoes individually in foil and bake for 1 hour or until cooked through. While still warm, peel the potatoes, discarding the skin, and mash them in a bowl using a potato ricer or masher to get about 230g of smooth mash.
3. Once the potatoes are in the oven, place the swede on a parchment-lined baking tray. Toss with ½ tablespoon of olive oil, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through (you can roast the swede at the same time as the potatoes). Transfer to a food processor with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and blitz until smooth with no lumps – you may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times. You should have about 320g of swede. Add to the bowl of mash along with the egg yolk and ¼ teaspoon of salt and mix well to combine, then fold in the flour until well combined with no lumps. Transfer the dough to a piping bag and refrigerate for an hour or until well chilled.
4. Snip the end off the piping bag to give you an opening about 2cm wide. Fill a medium pot with 1½ litres of water, add 2 teaspoons of salt and bring to the boil, then lower the heat to medium-high so the water is simmering gently. Cook the gnocchi (homemade or shop-bought – see the introduction) in about five batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Pipe 3cm pieces of gnocchi into the water, using a small sharp knife to cut off each piece of dough. Cook for 2–3 minutes, or until the gnocchi float to the top. Lift out the cooked gnocchi with a slotted spoon and place them on a parchment-lined tray, spaced apart. Once all the gnocchi are cooked, drizzle them with 2 teaspoons of oil and refrigerate for 20 minutes until slightly chilled – this will help them to set and keep their shape when you fry them.
5. Pour the stock into a large sauté pan on a medium-high heat and cook for 12–14 minutes, or until reduced to 200ml. Add the morning glory (or spinach) and cook for 2 minutes until tender, then remove from the pan and set aside, leaving most of the liquid in the pan. Return the pan to a medium heat and whisk in the miso, lime juice, ginger and butter, then cook for 3 minutes, whisking until the butter melts and the sauce is smooth and slightly thickened. Take care not to let it boil, as it will split.
Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
6. Heat the remaining 1½ tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan on a medium-high heat. Once it’s very hot, add half the gnocchi and fry for 1–2 minutes on each side, or until nicely browned all over. Transfer to a plate and continue with the other half. Add the cooked gnocchi and morning glory (or spinach) to the pan of sauce, return to a medium-high heat and gently heat through for a minute or two.
7. Divide between four plates, sprinkle with the lime zest, spring onions and sesame seeds, and serve at once.
