Potato Gnocchi Gratin

From In the Hands of a Chef: Cooking with Jody Adams by Jody Adams and Ken Rivard (New York: William Morrow).

Makes four side-dish servings

GNOCCHI
2 pounds baking potatoes, scrubbed
1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 whole egg, beaten

2 cups light cream
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 plum tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped into 1/2 –inch dice
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.

2. Roast the potatoes for 40 to 50 minutes—they should be just done. If they cook too long, they won’t rice properly.

3. Let the potatoes cool for 5 minutes, no longer. Using a kitchen towel to handle the potatoes, cut each one in half, scoop out and rice the potato flesh in a large bowl. Add the flour and salt and mix well. Add the egg and quickly knead everything together into a sticky dough; work the dough no longer than 3 minutes. If it’s too wet, add a small amount of additional flour. If you add too much flour or knead the dough for too long the gnocchi will be gluey.

4. Fill a large pot with 4 inches of water; bring it to boil and season with salt. (You need the water deep enough to cook the submerged gnocchi, yet shallow enough that you can maintain a good boil. If you want the process to go faster, put on 2 large pots.) Fill another large pot halfway with ice water. Dust your hands with flour. Cut off a piece of dough about the size of a gumball to make a trial gnocchi. Roll it between your palms into a ball, then drop it into the pot of boiling water. After it cooks for a minute it will bob to the surface. Let it cook for a minute longer, then remove it with a slotted spoon. Plunge it into the ice water for a few seconds, then taste it. (Don’t worry if the outside looks a little filmy as it comes out of the ice water. The film disappears as the gnocchi dries, and the moisture evaporates.) The gnocchi should be cooked through but still soft. If it falls apart knead a little more flour into the dough, taste for seasoning, and test again.

5. Using more flour as needed, roll the potato dough under your palms into ½-inch thick logs. There should be enough dough to make between 4 and 5 logs about 18 inches long. To make gnocchi, cut the logs diagonally into 1-inch lengths. You should get about 65 to 70 gnocchi. Gnocchi are generally given a final shaping by either making a depression in the center of each piece with you finger or rolling them off the curved back of the tines of a fork.

6. Preheat the broiler. Grease a shallow 2-quart baking dish with the butter. (The dish has to be large enough to accommodate the gnocchi in a single layer.)

7. Add the gnocchi to the boiling water in several batches. Again, let them bob to the surface, then cook for an additional minute. Remove the gnocchi from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a sheet pan, shaking off any excess water. Let them cool for a few minutes. They can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.

8. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it starts to simmer, season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and add the tomatoes.

9. Arrange the gnocchi in the dish in a single layer. Pour the cream and tomatoes over the gnocchi. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Place under the broiler until the gnocchi are toasted and golden, about 5 minutes.

10. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

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