After two weeks at the cottage and an average dinner size of 12, we developed some new tricks!  New Year’s Eve peaked at 35…food was plentiful and varied, and no complaints on the taste, either!

Since it was cold, we tried to cook for the season and the temps!

Here is one of our highlights!

Potato Gnocchi with  Buttery Sauce (serves 4-5 as a lunch size, but we got about 16 servings for the buffet)

Gnocchi

3-4 baking potatoes

2 egg yolks, beaten

2-3 cups flour (really depends on the moisture in your potatoes)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Sauce

1/3 cup butter

6-8 fresh sage leaves

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or adjust to taste)

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 lemon, juice and zest

5 slices bacon

1/4 cup parmesan or romano cheese, grated

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Gnocchi

Bake potatoes at 375F for 30-45 minutes or until tender.  Cool, peel and then grate into a large bowl.  Season with S&P.  Stir in egg yolk, blending until smooth.  Add flour until dough is formed.  Continue to add flour until dough reaches a smooth texture with some elasticity…similar to a bread dough. Dough can then be turned onto a floured surface.  Knead gently. (NB, you can boil the potatoes, but drain well…the extra moisture requires more flour)

Break off balls of dough, approx. 15-20cm in diameter.  Form ball into a roll approximately 2cm diameter.  Using a knife, cut 2cm lengths from the roll, creating something that looks a bit like a pillow!  Store cut pieces single layer on a well floured baking sheet.  If you are not cooking them right after finishing the batch, store in fridge or freezer until ready for use.  If you do not, you may end up with a globby mess, trust me!  At this point, put on a large pot of water to boil and get started on the sauce.

 Sauce

In a large cast iron skillet, melt butter over medium heat.  Dice the bacon and add to butter.  Fry until slightly crispy and then lower temperature, adding garlic to saute.  Add sage, lemon,pepper flakes and chicken stock.  Simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, then add parmesan.  Season with S&P.

To  Finish the Dish:

Gently drop gnocchi into boiling water and simmer.  When gnocchi is cooked, it will rise to the top of  the pot and can be skimmed off into the skillet with the sauce.  Continue to add gnocchi to boiling water and transferring to sauce until all is cooked.  Combine well and serve in small 250ml wide mouth mason jars.  Garnish with a sage leaf or something green and a sprinkle of parmesan.  This looked tasty on the buffet and we got about 16 servings from it!

Once I upload the holiday pics, I’ll show you how it looked!

Enjoy!