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Crispy Gnocchi and Asparagus

FDL
By
Fine Dining Lovers
Editorial Staff
Difficulty
Intermediate
Total Time
1H 0MIN

Ingredients

Potatoes: 500 g

All purpose flour: 125 g

Egg yolks: 2

Parmigiano cheese: 40 g

Salt:

Black pepper

Nutmeg

Asparagus: 600 g

Baking soda

Salt

Extra virgin olive oil

Milk: 250 ml

Butter: 35 g

All purpose flour: 35 g

Alessandro Bergamo is the sous-chef at Ristorante Cracco by Carlo Cracco in Milano. He's also the S.Pellegrino Young Chef winner for the Italy and South-West Europe region.

Young Italian chef Alessandro Bergamo shares his recipe for gnocchi cooked three different ways with asparagus. The perfect seasonal dish for enjoying in company on a beautiful spring day.

Bergamo says the familiar flavours and ingredients in his dish transport him back to his childhood, when his mother and grandmother used to prepare gnocchi with asparagus from the garden on a Sunday, leaving him with what he calls "indelible memories". 

The gnocchi are cooked in three different way: first blanched in water, then browned in a pot to give them a crunchy crust, and finally cooked au gratin with a layer of cheese.

Take a look at his simple spring recipe in the step-by-step recipe below:

 

 

01.

Cook the potatoes with their skins on, either in water or in the oven. Peel them while hot, then pass them through a vegetable mill.

potatoes for gnocchi
02.

Add all the other ingredients -  flour, eggs, Parmesan, salt, pepper and nutmeg - to the potatoes.

Knead until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.

dough for gnocchi
03.

Peel the asparagus ends then blanch the stems in salted water for 2 minutes. Let them cool in cold water.

Season with salt and oil, and set aside for the final decoration.

asparagus for gnocchi
04.

Finely chop the ends of the asparagus and then blanch them in salted water with a pinch of baking soda. Blend them until you get a smooth cream, and season with salt.

asparagus sauce for gnocchi
05.

In a saucepan, melt the butter, add the flour and cook until you get an amber roux. Add the milk and, with the help of a whisk, mix until you get a smooth béchamel sauce without lumps.

Béchamel sauce with parmesan cheese
06.

Take the gnocchi dough and take a part of it to obtain loaves of about 2 centimetres. Cut into pieces of about 4-5 centimetres. Boil in salted water for a few moments until they come to the surface.

making gnocchi
07.

Toast the gnocchi on both sides in a hot pan.

gnocchi
08.

Decorate the dish with the asparagus cream and the parmesan béchamel sauce. Arrange the gnocchi and alternate with the green asparagus. Decorate as desired with spring flowers.

Plating Gnocchi
09.

Final dish.

Bergamo final dish
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