Gnocchi Gratin (‘The Domestic Goddess Challenge’ recipe): Friday challenge

This is one of those recipes that is just a really great weekday meal, it would have been quicker if I hadn’t decided to make the gnocchi from scratch but hey practise makes perfect! I found this recipe on “The Domestic Goddess Challenge” blog so please follow the link to see the full list of ingredients and method! I’m not sure my photo does it justice (it’s hard to make bakes/ gratins look pretty!)

I was so pleased with how my gnocchi came out this time, it felt better doing it a second time around because I knew what to expect. I made the following changes:

• I cut the potatoes up into quarters before boiling them so they would cook quicker
• I boiled the potatoes for longer and only took them out when I pressed down on them with a fork and they broke.
• I got Scott to mash them, he has stronger arms than me so got a much smoother mashed potato to work with

I added some carrots and mushrooms along with the veg Sian suggests in her recipe and also I didn’t add the wine because I didn’t have any! I also roasted my own peppers, it’s very simple just coat a little oil on a whole pepper and put it in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Once cooked you can pull the green stalk out and all the seeds will come out with it. Then peel any thick skin off and slice!
Also, I agree that the bread crumb topping is a must! It just finishes it off beautifully and adds a little crunch.

I served Scott’s with a chicken leg which had a sage and garlic butter under the skin, such a simple addition to the chicken but made it a bit special! I will often serve us up the same vegetarian one pot dish and I’ll have salad and Scott will have chicken, beef or sausages. It’s a lot easier than making two gratins/ casseroles/ curries etc, one veggie and one with meat. Of course Scott doesn’t always have the meat sometimes we just have a complete vegetarian night!

I’ve decided I’m a massive fan of gnocchi in all forms! I love making it, kneading an impossibly soft dough is so relaxing and then it is so easy to cook because it tells you when it’s done. I love how the most fragile little pillows of dough become quite resilient when cooked and can then be popped into a sauce or mixed with vegetables and baked.

What I have learnt about Gnocchi:
Now that I have the basics of how to make gnocchi I can see how versatile it can be and there are plenty of ways to experiment with flavour combinations. They key is to make sure you have a perfectly smooth mashed potato to begin with, any lumps will be very obvious in your gnocchi (trust me I know!).
Secondly you have to make sure you don’t use too much flour otherwise it’ll over power the flavour of the gnocchi, you need a soft but still slightly sticky dough.
And last but not least make sure you cook them in batches (I had a large pan so did 10 at a time) to stop them sticking together.

Can’t wait to have a go at my own recipe, I have some great ideas so I think I may be eating gnocchi every day next week in preparation! mmmm

Artichoke Gratin (Ottolenghi’s ‘Plenty’ recipe): Friday Challenge!

I really love Ottolenghi’s vegetarian cookbook ‘Plenty’ however there are ALOT of recipes which are very dairy heavy and although this hasn’t put me off cooking from it, it has taken some time to vary the recipe so that I can eat it. You can find the book and more of Ottolenghi’s recipes here. This artichoke gratin is so delicious but the original recipe calls for a rich home made bechamel sauce and different varieties of cheese. I used a low dairy packet white sauce (not as tasty but you get a white sauce) and some light philadelphia cheese which I think still made it rich and creamy but just a little more edible for my sensitive stomach! If you are not allergic/ sensitive to lactose then go ahead and make the original recipe because it looked divine!

Before I had even put this in the oven I was having to stop myself from tucking in, it is very moreish and not all of it survived between being photographed and being served up for dinner (nom nom!). The recipe has onion, artichoke hearts (he calls for frozen but I used canned), white sauce, herbs and cheeses. I added garlic…..couldn’t help myself it just seemed like it would go perfectly.

This is a fantastic side dish and what I loved regarding the artichokes was how their flavour was not lost under all of the creamy sauce, they held their shape and flavour and really made the dish that extra bit special. I would definitely make this again for a dinner party.

Very different from my previous Jamie Oliver recipe where the artichoke was matched with fresh flavours, but in both recipes I definitely feel the artichoke’s role was to make the dish more luxurious. I’d like to bring my recipe attempt next week back towards the salad side of inspiration and use fresh flavours. This type of gratin was delicious but not something I would eat reguarly!

What I have learnt about Artichoke:
It can be cooked and sliced and it will still keep its shape as long as you are gentle when handling it. By Slicing it you can use less of the hearts and make it go further which is great if you want to be more frugal. Also I’ve learnt you can buy frozen hearts although I have still found the canned variety more widely available. Just make sure you rinse them very well as they all seem to be in salted water (yuck).

I’m feeling much more inspired this month than I was with the bread challenge! Do you have a favourite artichoke recipe?