sunnuntai 30. huhtikuuta 2017

Gnoc verc

Gnoc verc

For about 20 Gnoc, you will need:
  • 600 gr of dried white bread (for example from French baguettes);
    the bread does not need to be dry, but it needs to be chopped very
    small which is easier to do when it's dry.
  • one onion
  • about 4 spoons of white flour
  • about two spoons of butter
  • about four spoons of olive oil
  • tomato mash
  • few leaves of  basilicum
  • parmesan cheese (or other cheese)
  • 2 dl of cream
  • three full eggs
  • two deciliters of milk
  • 200 gr of spinach (pre-chopped, also frozen is ok)
  • salt & pepper as per taste
  • broth, either self-made or ready-made (one piece)
If you are using  frozen spinach, take it out of the freezer and let it melt on a bowl.
Start chopping the bread into small pieces; this is critical as if they are too big the Gnoc will not be easily eatable / may not stick together later on. Drop it in a big enough bowl.
Grind the parmesan (or your preferred) cheese in very fine slices (needs to melt in the cream).
Add and mix the flour, the salt, the pepper.
In a separate bowl, mix the eggs and the milk with a fork.
Take one small pan and put the Tomato mash in it with a few spoons of olive oil and some leaves of basilicum, salt and pepper. Stir and let it rest on a low heat. Every once in a while, remember to stir it.
Peel and chop the whole onion into small pieces, the smaller the easier the Gnoc will be to eat;
pull out another small pan, drop some oil and one spoon of butter in it, and once the butter is melted, drop the onion in it. Let it fry at low heat until it becomes transparent, but do not let it burn. Once it is transparent, drop the (chopped and eventually partially melted) spinach in it, stir and add salt & pepper. Stir until the water from the spinach evaporates (but pay attention not to let it burn).
Add the mix to the bowl with the bread and flour, stir until it's homogeneously distributed.
Now repeat the procedure with the egg and milk mix; once well mixed, you will need to make sure the mix is not too dry neither too moist; if too dry, add some more milk, if too moist, add some flour.
Once you have the correct mix, put the dough aside to rest for a while (ideally about 20 minutes).
Get a wide cattle and fill it with the broth(or water, to which you will then add the ready-broth cube) , place it to boil.
While waiting for the broth to boil, take out a third pan on a medium heat, and drop in a spoon full of butter to melt, once it's melted, drop the cream in it, and lower the heat. Drop the grind (parmesan) cheese in it, stir, and add a bit of milk. The result should be creamy, if not, add more cheese until it is (or as per taste). Keep on a low heat and remember to stir this too, its very sensitive to heat and burns easily.
As the broth boils, pick a spoon, as well as the dough, put the spoon in the broth to make it wet, and take out a decent slice of dough with the spoon, place it on your hand, re-dip the spoon in the broth and turn the dough in your hand with help of the spoon, compressing it by pushing it with the spoon towards your hand at the same time. If it's too sticky, it means the dough needs more flour, if it does not hold, it probably means it is too dry. Once the shape is egg-like, drop the Gnoc with the spoon in the broth. Repeat until you have finished the dough.
The Gnoc take about 15-20 minutes to complete. Bun pró!