Blue-violet gnocchi with squid sauce

Recipe for purple gnocchi with squid sauce

Preparation and cooking

• - Prepare fish sauce.
  Let your squids thaw and then cut them into rings.
  Slice leek very finely and then let it fry slightly in olive oil, on very low heat, together with bay leaf.
  Add squids too. Let them flavor, stirring frequently.
  Cover with hot water, season to taste with salt, and continue cooking, half-covered, on very low heat, until your squids are tender, about an hour. Remember to stir now and then.
  Add other hot water, if necessary.
  Clean parsley and chives. Wash and pat dry with absorbent kitchen paper. You have to cut them into your sauce just before turning off the stove.
• - Meanwhile ...
  ... steam vitelotte potatoes. I had to wash them thoroughly because full of earth.
• - Prepare gnocchi.
  When steamed potatoes are still warm, peel them and put them through a masher.
  The edible portion was lower than expected and so I had to weigh my mashed potatoes. I had only 600g (1 1/3 pound). So I decided to add less flour than usual. I used only 200g (7 ounces) flour, included the amount required for dusting the work surface.
  The difficulty in kneading suggested me to add eggs too. I added 3 quail eggs. One whole hen egg seemed excessive to me. Luckily, I have always quail eggs at home that allows me to frazionate hen eggs. Remember to salt your dough ;))
  Then I made my gnocchi as usual. You can find the link to my recipe for potato gnocchi below.
• - Gnocchi cooking.
  You have to cook gnocchi in abundant salt water. I have the habit to transfer my gnocchi, as soon as I see them floatting to the surface, with a slotted spoon into the pan with hot sauce.

Just before serving

• - Serve your gnocchi still hot.

Note

Tips

• - My husband and I ate these purple or blue-violet (as you prefer) gnocchi twice, on Sunday and Monday. They are perfect, even heated up!
• - Squid sauce is perfect for every kind of potato gnocchi but I recommend you to choose good-quality frozen or fresh squids. If you prefer fresh squids, you have to buy 800g (1 3/4 pounds) of these molluscs.

Menu planning

• - If you prepare this dish of vitelotte gnocchi for your family menu, remember it is one-plate meal. Complete your meal with fresh fruit.
• - They serve 8 people if you choose them for a full menu, Italian-style.
• - I suggest these violet gnocchi for your colored theme menus ;)).

Useful links for this recipe

• - Here's the recipe for gnocchi dough with detailed directions

Healthy eating

• - Remember: gnocchi is always a hearty dish.
• - Vitelotte potatoes are rare. They are thick-skinned and so when I find them I can keep them for long time. I use them for my scenographic dishes.
  Their nutrition properties are interesting. They have a dark violet-blue flesh thanks to natural pigments in the anthocyanin group of flavonoids. They have been cultivated in France since the early 19th century.
  They are harvested in late summer and can be found in cold months more easily.
• - Fiber per serving: 5.8 grams

Loretta

What's the right wine ?

My husband and I paired chardonnay wine (from Veneto) to this gnocchi dish dressed with fish sauce.