richard What better day than a Wednesday for a meal from the ‘quick and easy midweek dinner’ genre? From “Tip the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl…” to “…serve immediately with extra Parmesan” in under 20 minutes. What’s more, it’s fresh pasta. And what’s doubly more — it’s delicious.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2 people
Skill level: low/medium
Ingredients
- 00 pasta flour – 200g
- sea salt – a pinch plus more for the pasta water
- boiling water – some
- Parmesan – finely grated – 100g
- butter – 80g
- freshly ground black pepper – 2tbsp*
For the gnocchi:
Tip the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl and (using your skill and judgement) stir in enough boiling water to make a dough.
Leave for a few minutes until it is cool enough to handle, remove from the bowl and knead for a few minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Divide the dough into 4.
Roll each piece into a long thin sausage and then cut into thumbnail-sized pieces.
Roll/squash each piece with a fork to give the gnocchi a ridged appearance.
Store on a tray dusted with semolina.
For the Cacio e Pepe:
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the gnocchi.
Cook for 2 – 3 minutes until the gnocchi start to float.
Drain the gnocchi but reserve the starchy pasta water.
While the pasta is cooking, lightly toast the ground black pepper in a dry sauté pan for a couple of minutes.
Ladle in some of the reserved starchy water onto the toasted pepper.
Add the gnocchi and reduce the liquid slightly whilst tossing.
Remove from the heat and add the butter. Once melted sprinkle in the Parmesan and continue to gently toss until the sauce has emulsified and coated the gnocchi.
Adjust the seasoning and serve immediately with extra Parmesan.
Verdict: This is rich, filling and tasty dish but with one or two caviats. Firstly it is VERY peppery, possibly too peppery for some, so an option could be to reduce the amount of pepper by up to a half. Also all this pepper makes the sauce a rather unappetising grey. Other simple midweek pasta dishes in the yumblog archive include this incredibly simple yet undeniably amazing ‘Pasta with Butter and Tomato Sauce‘ and this rich, silken ‘Leek Carbonara‘
Drink: H2CO3
Entertainment: Celebrity Race Across the World.
