Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Semolina Gnocchi with Wild Mushroom Sauce


At the monthly meeting of the Puget Sound Mycological Society last Tuesday the chef of Serafina, a Seattle restaurant, gave a cooking demonstration using this recipe. I've tweaked it slightly to suit my needs, using chives instead of green onions because that's what we've got in the garden, and pulverizing the porcini for a richer sauce.


Semolina Gnocchi

2 cups milk
2 tbsp butter
3/4 cup semolina flour
1/4 cup parmesan, grated
2 tbsp chives, chopped
1 egg yolk
salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil milk and butter over medium-high heat. Slowly whisk in semolina. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir a minute or two. Stir in parmesan, chives, and seasoning. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Remove from heat and stir in egg yolk.

2. Grease a baking tin and spread mixture on tin to cool for several minutes. Using a spatula, spread and flatten gnocchi evenly so it's approximately 1/3 inch thick. Refrigerate. Trim edges and cut into 1-inch squares.

Wild Mushroom Sauce

1/2 oz dried porcini
1 medium leek, divided
1/2 lb fresh morels, sliced
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil, plus more if necessary
1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
splash Madiera
1 heaping tbsp mascarpone cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1. Pulverize dried porcini and bring to boil in 2 cups water with 1/2 leek, trimmed and roughly chopped. Reduce heat and let simmer 5 minutes before removing from heat.

2. Saute morels in pan with butter and olive oil until browned, about 4 minutes. Season. Add remaining leek, cut into julienne, and cook another few minutes. When leek has softened, add sage and deglaze with Madiera. When Madiera has evaporated, add 1/2 cup of mushroom-leek broth and reduce by half.

3. Gently brown gnocchi in olive oil and butter in another pan, preferably nonstick. Cook in batches, removing to warm plate in oven when done. Finish mushroom sauce with mascarpone. Add more mushroom broth if necessary. (At this point I added a touch more Madiera.) Check seasoning and ladle over gnocchi.

Serves 4. Eat with good friends who bring good wine. A spinach salad with toasted nuts and cheese pairs nicely.

12 comments:

Peabody said...

Oh, never had gnocchi made from semolina, interesting. Sounds good.

Julia said...

I used to make semolina gnocchi all the time... I'm wondering why I stopped. This looks amazing!

Ciao Chow Linda said...

I just posted a semolina gnocchi a couple of days ago - but the mushroom topping looks like a great addition.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that looks so delicious!

Unknown said...

I've never heard of a semolina based gnocchi! Sounds like a great play in textures.

Allison Lemons said...

Semolina gnocchi - right up my alley. I can't believe I never tried this. Adding mascarpone cheese to the sauce is interesting - I don't use it enough in savory dishes. Do you think creme fraiche would work as well?

matt wright said...

Darn you turning out decent looking gnocchi!!

The mushroom sauce looks great, the cheese and madiera must make it a rich feast!

The only friends to have are those with good wine, and that don't mind bringing it over!

t-mos said...

wow man! i have been off in la la land between looking for a house and getting ready for my first child. i've clearly been missing out on some ridiculously solid content! congrats on the book too! can't wait to get a copy. nice coverage on the morel\falsey debate.

t

Susan@LunaCafe said...

This dish looks fabulous! So many wonderful wild mushrooms in the Northwest farmers markets right now, especially in Portland, it's great o have ideas for using them. I usually make potato gnocci so also good to be reminded that there is another option. Nice site!

Langdon Cook said...

Peabody - This was my first attempt on the semolina front. Easier than potato, I'd say. Different flavor/texture. V. tasty.

Julia - I'm wondering why I've never made it before!

Linda - Your gnocchi is crazy delicious looking. I recommend the wild shrooms.

GraduallyGreener - It is...er...was.

Garrett - Gnocchi of all kinds is about texture, isn't it.

Allison - I'm a bit of a heavy cream freak, but the nice thing about mascarpone is you don't need to worry about reducing or thickening or separating. When the mascarpone has melted into the sauce you're done.

Matt - Madiera is indeed a key ingredient in this dish. The sauce depends on that extra kick.

T-Mos - Now I know where you've been! Congrats on the future new addition.

LunaCafe - Thanks for stopping by. We're rolling in good food in the PNW right now. Porcini on it's way too...

Trixi said...

Lang, do you do your own photography? Your food photos are magazine-class. This lookes fantastic. ::drool::

John from Bellingham and I are headed east in a couple hours--maybe we'll run into you on a lonely forest road...

Langdon Cook said...

Trixi - I do my own photos, and sometimes I get lucky. I have a lot to learn. Digital SLR is a huge jump from point-and-shoot, that's for sure.

How'd you do this weekend?