Ingredients
Serves 4-6
450gr potatoes (whole & unpeeled)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup plain flour
salt & pepper
Sauce
150gr blue cheese
100 ml thick cream
2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed from the stems
60gr parmesan cheese, grated
Method
Boil potatoes in salted water until tender (approx. 20 minutes). When cool enough to handle, peel. Force potatoes through a fine sieve, pressing down with the back of a spoon to force them through into a large mixing bowl.
Add plenty of salt & pepper and the egg until well incorporated. Add flour a little at a time, stirring well with a wooden spoon until you have a smooth dough. You may not need all the flour.
Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead until smooth. You may find you need to add a little more flour here to prevent sticking and achieve the smooth dough. Divide dough into six even pieces and roll into logs about 15-20cms long and 2.5cm round. Cut each log into pieces about 2.5cms long. Form into oval shapes and press lightly with the back of a fork to create ridges in the dough. These ridges will help trap the sauce and provide more flavour.
To cook:
Drop each piece of dough into a pot of boiling salted water until they rise to the surface. This should take 1-2 minutes. Remove and drain well.
To make the sauce:
Put the blue cheese, cream and thyme into a saucepan and heat gently until the blue cheese has melted and the sauce is a thick, creamy consistency.
Add the drained gnocchi and toss to combine.
Place into an oven dish that can go straight from the oven to the table, sprinkle with parmesan and extra thyme and bake at 180°C until just golden.
Serve immediately.
Notes:
I always make extra when making pasta and freeze the excess. Cook the gnocchi from frozen, following the guidelines above.
You can also make this recipe without baking in the oven. Cook the gnocchi as above, but boil for 4 minutes longer.
Cook the sauce as above, but when thick, add the well drained gnocchi, stir well to combine and serve with grated parmesan and thyme to garnish.
Traditionally this sauce would be made with a full-flavoured crumbly blue cheese such as gorgonzola. If you can get it, the Australian made Timboonzola, is very nice as it is creamier and has a milder flavour.