GNOCCHETTI FRITTI: Memories of Rome

The last time I was in Italy, I had no money to spend on dining out but I fortunately had my own kitchen in my apartment.  On my way back from school I would stop at the grocery store and pick up some food for dinner that night.

To make a long story short, I would cook gnocchi often.  There are many different types of gnocchi (which means "dumplings") ranging from small to large, soft to hard and with a range of ingredients.  The kind that I prepared--and often eat even here in the US--is the basic gnocchi made with semolina flour, potato and water.  Many other fresh gnocchi, like fresh pasta, contain egg and olive oil, too.  ***p.s. you should try the Roman variation of gnocchi: gnocchi romani; there's cheese in it, how can you lose?***  Perhaps I should make it and post it.

One day I decided to try frying my gnocchi in olive oil instead of boiling them.  One of my favorite things to eat is a fried potato so this sounded like heaven.  Sure enough, it was heaven.  I fried the raw gnocchi in olive oil and salt until they were golden brown.  Near the end of the cooking, I threw in some butter to help with the browning process.  Meanwhile in a seperate pan, I had tomato sauce cooking so it was ready to throw into the pan of frying gnocchi near their completion.

I give to you the world's easiest recipe.

First, make the sauce.

Heat a sauce pan on medium-high heat with:

• enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan

Chop up:

• half of an onion (whichever kind you prefer--I like sweet yellow onions)

and add it to the oil in the pan along with:

• red pepper flakes (I add in a lot because of love heat)

stir the onions every now and then until they are translucent and starting to turn slighlty brown.

(the following ingredients are optional if you have them on hand):

Grate:

• One carrot,
• One celery stalk

Add to onions, add another pinch of salt and continue cooking

Add a pinch of dried:

• thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary, black pepper

Continue cooking until everything is a nice golden-brown color.

Add:

• about a teaspoon of brown sugar (a trick I learned from an Croatian friend)

and continue to cook for a few more minutes so the sugar can carmelize a bit and get all up into the onion mixture.

Add:

• a glassful of red wine (you could use white)

and scrape all of the brown bits off of the bottom of the pan

Drink:

• a glassful or more of wine for yourself; it makes the cooking process even better

If you have it, Add:

• about a cup of veggie/chicken stock

cook until liquids are almost evaporated and you cannot smell alcohol anymore.

Add 1 can (either large or small) of:

• Pureed tomatoes (see below for more information*)

Let the sauce cook down to a wet stew.  Check for taste: saltiness, sweetness, acidity.  For my tastes with heavy fried potatoes, the top note should be acidity followed by saltiness and finally sweetness. 

In a few tablespoons of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter, fry your gnocchi until they are golden brown.  I always go just a level beyond golden brown because I like almost-burnt potatoes.  

Once they are ready, pour in your simmering sauce and ENJOY!