While at a restaurant in Boston’s North End for lunch almost exactly a year ago, I was texting a friend, an Italian-American from the area while musing about what to do order. I wrote that I was considering the gnocchi. He quickly replied that I was a brave man. Both of us had encountered poorly made gnocchi too often at restaurants: leaden, dull, and tasting a lot like pencil erasers. I’ve long thought of gnocchi as one test for Italian restaurants. If those are made well, there is a good chance it is a quality restaurant. These are very frequently found, whether well made or not.
Thought to resemble “lumps,” hence the name, gnocchi are dumplings made primarily from either potatoes or semolina flour, cooked by boiling in water or broth, or sometimes baked. Ricotta gnocchi, which might also be called gnudi, uses ricotta like potatoes in the potato dumplings, mixed with some flour and egg for binding. Malfatti are a type of large ricotta gnocchi made with spinach. Malloreddus are semolina gnocchi from Sardinia with a ridge. On menus along with pastas and risottos, gnocchi are served with a wide variety of sauces. Found on about one-third of all Italian restaurant menus in America over the years, gnocchi has been one test for a restaurant’s quality. Poorly made, overly stored, or overcooked versions can have the texture and taste of a pencil eraser.
Gnocchi alla Romana are a little different type of gnocchi that you’ll occasionally find. Semolina dumplings from Rome made with eggs, milk, and butter then baked. Typically served with hearty, straightforward sauces as part of the antipasto or pasta courses, or even as a side, in restaurants in America. And there is the similarly named, if not so similar, gnocco fritto. Deep-fried pieces of dough that are puffy, light and crisp served along side cured meats like prosciutto that is a specialty of the city of Modena – home of Ferrari, Maserati, balsamic vinegar, and Massimo Bottura – and found in recent years at restaurants in America as part of the antipasto offerings.
Thought to resemble “lumps,” hence the name, gnocchi are dumplings made primarily from either potatoes or semolina flour, cooked by boiling in water or broth, or sometimes baked. Ricotta gnocchi, which might also be called gnudi, uses ricotta like potatoes in the potato dumplings, mixed with some flour and egg for binding. Malfatti are a type of large ricotta gnocchi made with spinach. Malloreddus are semolina gnocchi from Sardinia with a ridge. On menus along with pastas and risottos, gnocchi are served with a wide variety of sauces. Found on about one-third of all Italian restaurant menus in America over the years, gnocchi has been one test for a restaurant’s quality. Poorly made, overly stored, or overcooked versions can have the texture and taste of a pencil eraser.
Gnocchi alla Romana are a little different type of gnocchi that you’ll occasionally find. Semolina dumplings from Rome made with eggs, milk, and butter then baked. Typically served with hearty, straightforward sauces as part of the antipasto or pasta courses, or even as a side, in restaurants in America. And there is the similarly named, if not so similar, gnocco fritto. Deep-fried pieces of dough that are puffy, light and crisp served along side cured meats like prosciutto that is a specialty of the city of Modena – home of Ferrari, Maserati, balsamic vinegar, and Massimo Bottura – and found in recent years at restaurants in America as part of the antipasto offerings.
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