Sunday, April 7, 2013

Pea Gnocchi with Browned Butter Radishes


Every now and then you find a recipe suits the season perfectly! This is one of those recipes that celebrates spring and all you need to make it is a bag or two of frozen peas, fresh radishes, parsley, butter...and some time. 

Sandy d'Amato, a local, James Beard Award-winning chef and restaurant-owner, writes a weekly food column in our Sunday newspaper. This recipe was one that he featured in his column just a couple of weeks ago.


Since we had the entire family over for a triple birthday celebration Saturday night, I had the perfect excuse to make it.  I did test it on my husband the week before and it was given 2 thumbs up (RIP Roger Ebert).  The recipe is time-consuming, but when I made it for my family, I tried some time-saving steps that worked great.  


The peas need to be blanched, puréed and then pushed through a strainer to remove the outer skin of the peasI did this a day aheadYou also need to bake a couple of potatoes and pass those through a ricer.  I did that a day ahead also.  Then, you need to either make your own clarified butter or buy ghee if your food market carries it.  It was really quite easy to make the clarified butter and I followed instructions I found after doing an online search.  I did that 2 days in advance. 

The morning of the party, I made and boiled the dumplings and sliced the radishes and kept them refrigerated so all I had left to do was sauté the dumplings and radishes - which I did right before everyone arrived and simply lightly reheated them at dinner time. 
  

Pea Gnocchi with Brown Butter Radishes

Adapted from Chef Sandy d'Amato
~from Savoring Time in the Kitchen

Makes 4 servings (about 70 1-inch dumplings)

1 pound Idaho potatoes (two 8-ounce potatoes)
1 pound peas (fresh-shucked or frozen); one-fourth reserved for garnish
1 egg
2 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
3/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces flour (about ¾ cup)
2 to 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces clarified butter
2 tablespoons whole salted butter
8 medium radishes, trimmed and sliced 1/8th inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
¼ cup loose-pack fresh Italian parsley leaves, cleaned and dried

Bake potatoes 1 hour, until tender.  While still warm,  pass through a ricer or food mill into a bowl.  Cool and refrigerate, if necessary (Can be made a day ahead)

Blanch the ¾ pound peas in boiling salted water 1 minute. Drain and shock in ice water. Dry on a towel and purée in a food processor until fine. Pass through a medium strainer into a bowl to remove all skin (scaping off the bottom of the sieve occasionally to release the all of the strained pea purée.  (Can be made a day ahead).

When ready to make the gnocchi, add the cooled and riced potatoes to the strained peas in a large bowl.

In another bowl, whisk egg with salt, nutmeg and pepper. Add to potatoes and peas and work together. Add flour and mix to just incorporate.  Do not overwork the dough.

Divide the dough into 5 pieces. Dust lightly with flour and roll out each piece with your hands into a rope shape about ½ inch thick and 14 inches long. Cut into 1-inch lengths to yield about 70 dumplings total.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add about a tablespoon of kosher salt to the boiling water.  Quickly add half the dumplings, one by one, so they don't stick together. Turn heat to the lowest setting, cover, and let the dumplings poach 3 minutes. Remove and drain with a skimmer to a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with just enough oil to keep them from sticking together. Repeat with remaining half of dumplings and cool all of them (they may be covered and refrigerated until needed at this point).

When ready to serve, place 2 nonstick saute pans over medium-high heat. Divide clarified butter between pans. When butter is hot, divide dumplings between the pans and sauté 2 to 3 minutes until lightly brown.  Remove the dumplings to a large bowl. 

Divide the whole salted butter between the 2 pans. When the butter browns, divide the radishes and reserved peas between the 2 pans and stir for about a minute. Return the dumplings to the pans. Season lightly with salt and pepper (I love lots of pepper), toss and place on a serving platter.  Garnish with parsley leaves

57 comments:

  1. Pea gnocchi...sounds great and it's green, and you know me and green!

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  2. What a brilliant idea, Susan! I love peas and actually just had some pea muffins for the breakfast :-))

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  3. What a delicious idea for gnocchi :D
    And brown butter makes everything better!

    Cheers
    CCU

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  4. Dearest Susan , Simply perfect!!! I'm drooling over these gorgeous gnocchis! Wonderful flavors, and I'm loving that first photograph! I hope you have a great week my friend!

    Hugs <3

    PS: Thanks for sharing your Easter Inspired pictures on the OHP board!

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  5. Gnocchi is something I've always wanted to try to make but just haven't yet. Sounds like a great dinner and the color is beautiful Susan:@)

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  6. oh wow, here all the stalls have fresh peas now; this would be such a refined way to present them! love your sense of organization too. Your family is so lucky to have you!

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  7. I find this recipe quite unusual, but yet, I would be ordering this in a restaurant. Thank you for sharing how to split up the work to make it easier.

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  8. What a little delicacy..and quite Spring like in color..
    I like prepping recipes aforehand too..makes it all more enjoyable..

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  9. Que buena tu receta :)
    Un saludito

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  10. Sounds like it would be good - thanks for sharing the recipe.

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  11. What a GORGEOUS celebration of spring!
    ON MY LIST!
    YUM!
    :)
    V

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  12. This dish looks very elegant and I am sure with a very unique flavor!

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  13. Oh wow, your Pea Gnocchi with Browned Butter Radishes is so beautiful. I love the vibrant green color of the pea gnocchi. :) They contrast really well with the butter radishes, both in texture and color. Such a gorgeous dish.

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  14. Those Pea gnocchi look beautiful Susan!!

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  15. pea gnocchi is a gorgeous recipe Susan!Thanks for sharing, a warm hug my dear...

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  16. This is the first time I've seen gnocchi from peas. What a great idea and a delicious one too.

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  17. You make the most beautiful meals! Your family is LUCKY!! I love gnocchi, it's the ultimate comfort food.

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  18. Such a pretty gnocchi! Love the green Susan.

    Have a wonderful week! xo

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  19. I've never tried to make gnocchi form a pea/potato mixture! What a fabulous idea and the radish brown butter sauce is so unique! I'll have to try this!

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  20. I love peas and I love gnocchi and though I order this in restaurants every time I see it on the menu, I've never tried making my own. LOVE that you did!

    Sues

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  21. Spring peas are one of my favorite vegetables and I am looking forward to them in a few weeks. I have to admit that I have never made gnocchi and would love to try it. Making the recipe in stages makes the whole process easier. What a beautiful dish, Susan. I can imagine that your family loved it.

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  22. I have never had gnocchi but this looks delicious!

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  23. So elegant and beautiful, Susan. You absolutely spoil your dinner guests and family. Good for you!

    Don't you just love the taste of ghee? It is, hands down, one of my very favorite secret flavor weapons. Again, beautiful dish. You are so gifted.

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  24. Wow Susan, I love gnocchi but never encounter such pretty and exotic one with peas...look awesome and so flavorful...
    Enjoy your week :)

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  25. THis is a beautiful dish for spring. I applaud you... made the gnocchi from scratch, and used the beautiful peas of spring...It is delightful!

    I have no doubt that it was a hit.

    Velva

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    1. It was hard to keep popping them in my mouth after cooking them :) They are so much more flavorful than regular gnocchi!

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  26. This looks absolutely beautiful! And as I type this there's Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake in the sidebar... You're killing me here! It all looks fabulous!

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  27. First time at your blog and I loved what I saw :-)
    The dish looks beautiful, delicious and healthy. I am sure going to give it a try. Bookmarking it. Thanks for sharing

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  28. Your time saving gems are all-important when entertaining, Susan. It's a lovely spring dish and I fully intend to try it. Gnocchi I've made once and loved it, but your version takes it to a whole new level.
    As for the radishes, I love them cooked. I made a cooked salad with roasted potatoes and radishes a couple years ago and when I served it to a group, everyone was surprised about radishes being in the dish. They would never have guessed, thinking it was all potatoes. Your radishes kept their color...did they keep their crispness and tang as well?

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    1. I sent you an email, Barbara, but yes, the radishes do retain most of their crispness and tang since they aren't cooked for very long in the brown butter at all.

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  29. This is one lovely dish! The buttered radishes looks so perfect with the pea gnocchi! Beautiful and looks so delicious!

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  30. Love that green hue! I'm a huge fan of trying crazy flavored gnocchi and I think pea is going to have to be my next endeavor!

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  31. This looks like spring on a plate. I don't think I would have ever come up with this combination, but I love it!

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  32. I have always been going to flavor my gnocchi, but have never done it. These are so beautiful and I bet they taste fantastic!

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  33. Perfect for St. Patrick's Day too!

    Looks delicious!

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  34. A beautiful Spring inspired dinner- I like how everything is made in stages and put together the day of the dinner party-thst sounds perfect to me!!!

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  35. You always come up with the most interesting recipes! I've never made gnocchi, but I have sautéed radishes and I do love them.

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  36. Another brilliant recipe... It just screams spring. I copied it first thing and hope to make it this weekend. Thanks so much for sharing this one and your beautiful photos!

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  37. Pea gnocchi is brillant! And it's such a beautiful color + the sauteed radishes make this a perfect springtime meal. I can't wait till my CSA starts - definitely going to give this a shot with my first bunch of radishes.

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  38. This is definitely different and great for a new spring dish! It sounds delicious and I love the radishes in the mix.

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  39. What a beautiful spring dish...your guest must have loved them.

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  40. Thi does sound the perfect way to celebrate Spring!!

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  41. This is beautiful Susan! I know your family appreciated and were rewarded by your efforts!

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  42. What a delicious way to celebrate birthdays and Spring :)

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  43. Colors are so nice together. I like how you divided up the steps and made it ahead. Sounds so easy now:)
    Hope you are enjoying the spring!

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  44. Pea Gnocchi sounds and looks amazing....perfect for Spring.

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  45. It's great when you can do part of the recipe ahead...looks yummy~ Happy weekend :)

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  46. Delicious! Well done!

    Ciao
    Alessandra

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  47. What a positively beautiful dish, and it is perfect for Spring. Brava!

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  48. yum! I love the idea of pea gnocchi! Looks beautiful! xx

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  49. oh la la this looks so good lucky family

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  50. A 'triple birthday' celebration! WOW, all I can say is that these pea-infused gnocchi would give three times the amount of oohs and ahhh's than any ordinary gnocchi! I just love it and yes, you are so right, this just sings of fresh spring flavor!!!

    xoxo,
    Roz

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  51. Thank you so much for all of your kind comments, everyone!

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  52. About a month ago I saw Giada on the Today Show making some gnocchi and I've been meaning to make it ever since. Yours sounds fantastic with flavorful ingredients. I look forward to trying it.

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  53. Not only is it seasonal, but it's beautiful. Pinned.

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