Culinary Council Recipe: Ethan Stowell’s Potato Gnocchi from his Food & Beverage Aficionado Cruise

Culinary Council Member and acclaimed Seattle Chef Ethan Stowell recently cruised on Eurodam for his “Food & Beverage Aficionado Cruise.” During the voyage, he hosted cooking demonstrations, talks and book signings, as well as an intimate, reservations-only dinner at the Pinnacle Grill.

During his cooking presentation, Chef Stowell made scrumptious potato gnocchi, and and now we’re sharing his amazing recipe with you!

INGREDIENTS
Serves 2-4

2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/2 c “oo” flour
Olive oil
Kosher Salt
Extra “oo” flour for dusting

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place potatoes on a sheet pan. Rub them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, then bake for 1 hour, or until tender. Transfer the potatoes to a rack and let rest until cool.

Lay a sheet of parchment paper on a sheet pan. Put the potatoes through a ricer, letting them fall onto the parchment and discarding the skins. Spread the potatoes on the parchment and allow them to rest until warm, but not warm enough to cook the egg yolks.

Dump the potatoes into a medium-sized bowl, then add the egg yolks and stir to combine. Sprinkle the 1/2 cup of flour over the mixture and knead until evenly distributed. Turn the dough onto a floured board and continue to knead until it is no longer sticky, adding extra flour as necessary. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each quarter into a log that is about 1/2 inch in diameter. then cut crosswire into 1-inch intervals. Here you can opt to leave them as little dumplings or create ridges to hold sauce, using a gnocchi paddle or the tines of a fork.

For the gnocchi paddle, roll each dumpling diagonally across. For a fork, invert it so that tines point down. Starting near the handle, roll each dumpling down the tines. In either method, let the dumpling fall off the end onto a well-floured sheet pan. The gnocchi will hold for a few hours on a sheet pan not touching or you can blanch them, which enables the gnocchi to last a day in the refrigerator.

To blanch, boil a pot of salter water. Cook 15-20 gnocchi at a time for 1-2 minutes, or until they float. Either add sauce and serve immediately or place on an oiled sheet pan and cover with plastic wrap.