Gnocchi al Vaticano is a traditional Vatican City recipe for a cheese-filled rice croquette with a breadcrumb coating. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Vatican City version of: Gnocchi al Vaticano.
For the Basil Pesto:
30g Fresh basil leaves
3 tbsp Pine nuts, toasted
1 Garlic clove, minced
4 tbsp Grated Parmesan
80ml Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
For the Sauce:
115g Pancetta, sliced
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
35g mushrooms, Sliced
1 Small fennel bulb, sliced
10 Cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp Olive oil
2 tbsp Butter
55g Parmesan
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Method:
The previous day, scrub the potatoes then bake in their skins for 60-80 minutes until tender. Allow to cool until they can be handled, cut in half then scoop out the flesh and set aside.
The following day, bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Press the cooked potato flesh through a ricer into bowl. Mix in the eggs, yolks, flour, Parmesan cheese, butter and salt. Knead everything together to form a soft dough. Turn this onto a work surface then roll into a 70°Cm long sausage shape and cut into pieces about 2cm long.
Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water and cook until they rise to the surface. When they float, remove then from the pan with a spider or slotted spoon and rinse them under cold water. Set aside.
For the pesto, wash the basil and pick the leaves from the stems. Toast the pine nuts on low heat in a small pan with no oil for about 2 to
3 minutes, stirring often and watching carefully so they do not burn.
Remove the pine nuts from the pan and turn into a bowl to cool. Mince the garlic.
Once the pine nuts have cooled combine in a blender with the basil and pine nuts. Pulse to chop then add the Parmesan cheese. Now add the olive oil, drizzling it in a little at a time whilst blending. Season to taste with salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
For the sauce, slice the pancetta into thin strips. Finely chop the onion, and mince the garlic. Slice the fennel and mushrooms. Halve the cherry
tomatoes, and remove the seeds. Add about 2 tbsp of olive oil to a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and pancetta, and
cook, stirring for about 3 to 5 minutes.
At this point, add the mushrooms and the fennel, and continue frying for about 3 to 5 minutes. Pour in the white wine and add the tomatoes.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the pesto.
Add the gnocchi to a pan with 2 tbsp butter. Warm over low heat until the butter starts to sizzle. Mix in pesto, add sauce with pancetta
and vegetables over the gnocchi. Arrange on separate serving plates, sprinkle with Parmesan, and serve.
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