Dumpling Update: Pisarei e Faso
Mar. 9th, 2012 08:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
multipurposegoddessTiny Gnocchi and Cranberry Stew, although my gnocchi were not quite as tiny as they are meant to be, and I substituted pinto beans for the elusive cranberry beans (as suggested by the recipe, though I might seek out cranberry beans now that I have a recipe for them that I like, I'm pretty sure my mom has a source), this turned out really well. I don't think I've ever done a straight up cold soak of dried beans before, I usually do the quick bring to a boil and then soak thing, but that apparently worked fine. I was cursing my decision to get fresh plum tomatoes rather than canned, but I eventually got my magical tomato saucing gadget to suction cup itself to stove properly and it all went much more smoothly from there on out.
This would be an easy recipe to turn vegetarian or vegan - it's got bacon but that would actually not be a tragedy to omit, and the parmesan is stirred in at the end so that could be made a post-serving addition. The dumplings are made of flour, bread crumbs (not potatoes! I don't know what makes a gnocchi a gnocchi. Or what the singular form of gnocchi might be. Gnocchus?), salt and hot water - so simple, but they held together quite well. And they are fairly easy to form, you roll the dough out into narrow "ropes" and then cut them into little pillows (if you are ambitious you can shape the little pillows further. I did that with the first eighth of the dough that I worked with and decided I did not have the patience for that. And I don't regret it), which is much quicker than most recipes that make a large quantity of tiny dumplings. Between the soaking of the beans and the simmering of the stew, it did take pretty much all day to make, but most of that time did not require actual attention being paid. And smelled really good. The dumplings are cooked separately from the stew, which is always a bit of a pain, but they don't take very long, being tiny, and are stirred in as soon as they are cooked so it's still fairly simple.
It looked like an enormous amount of food in the pot, but I was able to eat a full serving (the recipe says it makes 4 servings). I suspect that if I ate anything alongside - a salad or bread to sop up the sauce, say - I'd want less, but on its own it made an extremely satisfying dinner. I'll probably see how it fares as leftovers tomorrow night. I expect it to hold up well.
Mmm, so full of good food and drowsy.
This would be an easy recipe to turn vegetarian or vegan - it's got bacon but that would actually not be a tragedy to omit, and the parmesan is stirred in at the end so that could be made a post-serving addition. The dumplings are made of flour, bread crumbs (not potatoes! I don't know what makes a gnocchi a gnocchi. Or what the singular form of gnocchi might be. Gnocchus?), salt and hot water - so simple, but they held together quite well. And they are fairly easy to form, you roll the dough out into narrow "ropes" and then cut them into little pillows (if you are ambitious you can shape the little pillows further. I did that with the first eighth of the dough that I worked with and decided I did not have the patience for that. And I don't regret it), which is much quicker than most recipes that make a large quantity of tiny dumplings. Between the soaking of the beans and the simmering of the stew, it did take pretty much all day to make, but most of that time did not require actual attention being paid. And smelled really good. The dumplings are cooked separately from the stew, which is always a bit of a pain, but they don't take very long, being tiny, and are stirred in as soon as they are cooked so it's still fairly simple.
It looked like an enormous amount of food in the pot, but I was able to eat a full serving (the recipe says it makes 4 servings). I suspect that if I ate anything alongside - a salad or bread to sop up the sauce, say - I'd want less, but on its own it made an extremely satisfying dinner. I'll probably see how it fares as leftovers tomorrow night. I expect it to hold up well.
Mmm, so full of good food and drowsy.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-03-13 06:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-03-13 08:47 pm (UTC)I bet you could make these gnocchi with whatever flour you wanted, if you had breadcrumbs made from that type of bread. Probably best to try the recipe as written first, though, get a feel for how the dough is supposed to turn out.