When we mention Italian cuisine, we can’t avoid delicacy like gnocchi. They can be served with different sauces and this time we chose a wine sauce with asparagus, which also sigh of a spring. Whether we use asparagus because of its natural aphrodisiac or because of the wealth of vitamins and minerals they contain, you will not miss if you try this recipe.

 

One of the important things when preparing gnocchi is choosing the right potatoes. Experts say that you need potatoes that contain a lot of starch. You will not go wrong if you choose old potatoes (white) with a rough rind.

With gnocchi, everything revolves around the softness of gnocchi. Of course, a little practice is needed when we are talking about adding the flour. If there is too little flour, the gnocchi will be too soft and will disintegrate, and with too much flour, the gnocchi will be too hard and rubbery. So maybe it makes sense to start cooking just one gnocchi as a test at first.

 

Asparagus gives the dish a special taste that depends on their upbringing. In principle, we have wild and tame asparagus, which have a wild, more intense taste and are richer in vitamins and minerals. Small drawback: it grows only in the Mediterranean region.

 

From ancient Rome asparagus is considered as an aphrodisiac and juice from it was the main ingredient of a love potion. It is said that the great French lovers afforded up to three meals of this wonderful plant the night before the wedding.

 

 

 

Gnocchi with asparagus

Gnocchi are a popular Italian specialty made from potatoes. With wine sauce and asparagus, this dish becomes a real specialty, especially if we use wild asparagus. In any case, the aromas of wine and asparagus are giving the dish an irresistible taste.

Preparation: 10 min
Cooking: 50 min
Difficulty: easy
Servings: 4

vegan, dairy free

Ingredients

for gnocchi:

  • 500g of potatoes
  • 150 g flour
  • ½ teaspoons of salt
  • pinch of nutmeg

for asparagus and dish:

  • 450g medium asparagus trimmed and cut
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (or dried)
  • 1 dl white wine
  • 150 ml oat cream (or similar)
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • With freshly ground pepper

Preparation

for gnocchi:

  1. Wash the potatoes well and cook unpeeled.
  2. When they are cooked, drain the water and wait for them to cool a bit.
  3. Peel a squash, grate it and squeeze the juice. Add flour, salt and nutmeg. Knead everything quickly into a larger lump, sprinkle over a little flour and cover the dough with a fresh cloth. Leave to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add a larger pot of water with a teaspoon of salt.
  4. Sprinkle the work surface with a little flour, take a quarter of the dough, roll it into a thin roll about 2 cm thick and cut it with the blunt side of a knife or other tool to a width of 1 cm. So cut all the dough.
  5. Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water. Once they surface, cook them for another 3 minutes or so.

for asparagus and dishes:

  1. Pour about 2.5 cm of water into the pot and put a steamer on the top.
  2. Put the asparagus in the steamer and let the water boil. Steam until soft, about 5 minutes. Take them out and cut into small pieces.
  3. Heat the oil in a large pan over low heat, add the garlic and fry for about 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add the sliced ​​asparagus, thyme, salt, pepper and white wine and simmer for another 3 minutes.
  5. Add creamy oatmeal with gnocchi and stir all together.
  6. Drizzle with olive oil and serve immediately.

 

We can also freeze the gnocchi:
place the slices on a small base with baking paper and leave them in the freezer to freeze. Later we put them in a bag and put them back in the freezer.

Photo credits:
Jelena C. Š.