Deniliquin: Sage Sage and more Sage

On our last visit to Andy and Kate's a couple of years ago the vege garden was over flowing with all sorts of vege's herbs and fruit that andy had been growing. However, drought, winter and 2 kids have seen a slight downfall in the garden's productivity. However, what you can see growing even from the house is the biggest bush of sage I have ever seen and that's saying something because Nonna had a sage bush to die for. You can see about a third of it below. So the obvious thought came into my mind, I just had to make gnocchi with burnt butter and sage sauce. Those of you who have the honour of the owning the Jamkat Recipe Book already have this recipe, but for those who don't have it or don't know what I am talking about, here is my nonna's recipe. The gnocchi is fluffy, the butter salty and yummy and the sage is crunchy and gives it a bit of punch. Enjoy!

(I cheated with the photos a bit and used some from a cooking session before we left.. but the outcome was still the same and they're great shots, thanks Adam)

Ingredients

·       1kg potatoes

·       1 3/4 cups plain flour, plus extra for dusting

·       1 egg, lightly beaten

·       salt

·       100g Butter (salted)

·       10 Sage Leaves.

Directions
Gnocchi

Steam potatoes, whole with the skin still on for 20-25 minutes or until just tender when tested with a skewer (don't test too much as potatoes will become waterlogged).

When potatoes are ready, and still hot, place each potato in the schiacciapatate (potato ricer) one at a time. This will remove the skins and crush the potatoes at the same time. Crush the potatoes directly onto a lightly floured working bench. If you do not have a schiacciapatate, you can use a potato masher but they will not be as light and fluffy.

Lightly combine the potato and flour with your hands. You can add more flour if needed so start by leaving a little to the side and add more if needed. Create a mound of the potato and make a well in the middle. Pour the egg into the well and the mix it through with your hands. Combine until the mixture resembles a soft elastic dough. You can add more flour, if needed, but be careful not to make the dough too dry as the gnocchi will be hard. Roll the mixture into long rolls about 1.5cm thick. Cut into the desired gnocchi size (they are usually about 2cm). You can roll the back of a fork across each gnocchi to make them look pretty. It is also said that this helps the sauce stick to the gnocchi. Toss each gnocchi through some flour (I keep a small pile of flour on the side of my working space for this purpose.

Place the gnocchi into salted boiling water (lots of salt). When the gnocchi rises the surface they are supposed to be ready, but I like to give them a moment more. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and place straight into the serving bowls. You may need to cook in two batches or more depending on the size of your saucepan.

Sauce

Add butter to pan and heat until butter begins to foam. At this point, add the sage and cook until butter has browned. Serve immediately.

To Serve

Serve the gnocchi topped with the sauce and some shaved parmesan, salt and pepper.

Storing

One of the many wonders of gnocchi is that it can be frozen and when cooked tastes almost as good as preparing fresh. The secret is to get to the stage of cutting and flouring the gnocchi and then placing on baking trays (lined with baking paper) and then freeze them like this. This stops the gnocchi sticking together. Once frozen they can be put into containers or freezer bags to free up freezer space.