Bread Gnocchi with Sausage – The Pasta Challenge
This bread gnocchi with sausage is a significantly good, hearty conventional dish from Umbria. Its wealthy and flavorful sauce pairs excellently with gnocchi and the recipe might be made in below an hour with do-it-yourself bread gnocchi or in below half-hour with store-bought potato gnocchi.
Historical past
Often called gnocchetti collescipolani or gnocchi alla collescipolana, this Umbrian bread gnocchi recipe really comes from the small hilltop village of Collescipoli, simply exterior the town of Terni in South-Jap Umbria.
Each Collescipoli and Terni are very historical settlements courting again to pre-Roman occasions and situated on a big plain on the confluence of the Serra and Nera rivers.
The delicacies on this a part of Italy could be very rustic and primarily based on what Italians name ‘la cucina povera’ (the peasant kitchen). Pulses and legumes are staples for the locals and the most well-liked meat is pork and pork merchandise, sport birds, poultry and lamb.
In addition they have quite a lot of conventional dishes with black truffles, notably these from Norcia additional up the Nera River.
I first got here throughout this recipe in one among my favorite cookbooks, La Cucina: The Reginal Cooking of Italy. This e book was printed in English by the Italian Academy of Delicacies (L’Accademia Italiana della Cucina). It’s a treasure trove of conventional Italian recipes, not simply pasta in fact.
Recipe Variations
Like many different Italian recipes, there are completely different variations of gnocchetti collescipolani. Nonetheless, the variations are fairly small.
I’ve come throughout just a few recipes for the sauce made with pancetta as a substitute of guanciale. Nonetheless, most Italian recipes have guanciale. There are additionally Italian variations with cannellini beans as a substitute of borlotti, with pink wine and with peperoncino. Traditionalists and the individuals of Collescipoli would in all probability disagree with utilizing these substances!
In Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, they make a dish known as ‘pisarei e fasò’ which has very comparable bread gnocchi served in a bean and lardo (cured pork again fats not lard) or pancetta sauce.
Truly, the sauce is nearly the identical as this recipe. Pisarei isn’t precisely like these Umbrian bread gnocchi as a result of they’re barely completely different in form. They appear extra like orecchiette. On my to make record!
Components
This bread gnocchi with sausage recipe will also be made with store-bought or do-it-yourself potato gnocchi if most well-liked.
Bread Gnocchi:
- Bread: You should use store-bought breadcrumbs or shortly blitz dried stale bread within the meals processor for the bread within the gnocchi. One of the best sort of bread to make use of is a thickly sliced nation or rustic bread.
- Italian ’00’ mushy wheat flour: Is a finely milled wheat flour. If unavailable, all-purpose flour can be utilized as an alternative.
- Salt: Essential for seasoning and enhancing the gnocchi taste.
- Heat Water: Binds the breadcrumb and flour collectively, making a workable dough.
Sausage Sauce:
- Italian Pork Sausages (Salsiccia): These sausages have a definite wealthy taste. If unavailable, you’ll be able to go for delicate pork sausages with the addition of some freshly chopped rosemary or crushed fennel seeds. At all times keep in mind to take away the casing and crumble the sausage meat.
- Guanciale: A standard Italian cured meat from pork cheek. It may be substituted with pancetta or fatty bacon if unavailable.
- Onion, Celery, Carrots, & Garlic: These create the traditional ‘soffritto’ base for the recipe.
- Tomato Passata: These are sieved tomatoes and are known as tomato purée within the US. They will also be substituted for peeled and chopped recent tomatoes.
- Borlotti Beans (Cranberry Beans): You should use both dried beans, canned beans or pre-cooked beans. If utilizing dried beans, they need to be soaked in a single day after which cooked in water for about 45-60 minutes till tender.
Methods to make breadcrumbs from stale bread
If the bread is stale and already dried you’ll be able to merely pulse the bread into breadcrumbs utilizing a meals processor. If the bread continues to be just a little moist observe this technique:
Directions:
- Preheat Your Oven: Begin by setting your oven to 200°F (93°C). This temperature will gently dry out the bread with out toasting it.
- Preparation: In case your bread comes with a thick crust, you would possibly need to take away it for a uniform breadcrumb texture. Tear the bread into chunks, roughly the scale of huge croutons.
- Lengthy & Mild Drying: Lay the bread items evenly on a baking sheet. Allow them to dry out within the oven for about 15-25 minutes. The aim is to dehydrate the bread, avoiding any browning. You’re aiming for a texture that’s completely dry and crumbly.
- Cooling Off: Make sure the bread items are cooled all the way down to room temperature earlier than continuing.
- Grinding and Then Prepared: Add the dried bread chunks right into a meals processor. Pulse till you get a constant breadcrumb texture.
Methods to make bread gnocchi
1) Combine the breadcrumbs, flour and a tsp of salt collectively in a bowl. Slowly add the nice and cozy water whereas utilizing your arms to work the substances right into a dough.
Notice: You could not want all of the water or it’s possible you’ll want so as to add a bit extra. The dough must be mushy and barely cheesy however not moist.
2) Flip the dough out onto a pastry board and knead just a little. Not rather a lot as in any other case your gnocchi can be too dense. Cowl the dough with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and let it relaxation for 30-60 minutes.
3) After letting the dough relaxation, make the gnocchi by rolling items of dough into ‘snakes’ about 1.5 cm (0.5ins) thick after which slicing the snakes into small 1-2 cm (0.5-0.75 ins) items.
4) Put the prepared gnocchi onto a tray or tea towel that’s been dusted with flour when you make the remaining and the sauce.
Tip: I discover semolina flour is one of the best for dusting.
Methods to make gnocchi with sausage
1) In a Dutch oven or massive pot, sauté onion, garlic, celery, and carrots in olive oil over low warmth. Improve the warmth to medium-high, then add guanciale and sausage mince. Brown the guanciale and sausage mince this could take about 5-7 minutes.
2) After browning the meat, combine within the tomato passata and prepare dinner for an extra quarter-hour.
3) Alter with salt, add beans, and let simmer for one more 10 minutes.
4) Simply earlier than you might be able to serve, boil the breadcrumb gnocchi in salted water. As they float to the floor, transfer them with a slotted spoon to the sauce.
Notice: Make certain to do a style check earlier than including the gnocchi to the sausage sauce.
5) Combine completely and serve garnished with grated pecorino.
Storage and Leftovers
Storing Raw Bread Gnocchi: If you happen to’ve ready extra gnocchi than wanted, organize them in a single layer on a tray and freeze till strong. As soon as agency, switch them to a sealable bag and retailer them within the freezer. They’ll keep recent for as much as 3 months and might be cooked immediately from frozen.
Storing the Sausage Sauce: Maintain any leftover sauce in a tightly sealed container. It should stay recent within the fridge for as much as 3-4 days. For longer storage, you’ll be able to freeze it in a tightly sealed container for as much as 3 months.
Reheating the Dish: Once you’re able to benefit from the leftovers, slowly simmer the sauce on the stovetop. If the sauce has thickened an excessive amount of, you’ll be able to skinny it out with a little bit of water whereas reheating. For the raw gnocchi, boil them in salted water till they float to the floor, then switch them into the sauce with a slotted spoon.
Leftovers Mixed: In case you have gnocchi and the sausage sauce saved collectively, it’s finest to retailer them in an hermetic container within the fridge. For reheating, gently simmer on the stovetop till scorching all through, adjusting consistency if needed with a splash of water or broth.
FAQs
The truth is, it’s rather a lot much less work than potato gnocchi as there’s nothing to prepare dinner beforehand. Simply combine breadcrumbs, flour, salt and heat water collectively in a bowl till you could have a dough. Then flip it out onto a pastry board and knead just a little then, roll and reduce.
Resting the dough permits the flour to completely hydrate and helps in stress-free the gluten strands. This ensures the gnocchi stays tender when cooked and prevents it from turning into too dense or chewy.
To stop dense or robust gnocchi, it’s important to keep away from over-kneading the dough. Over-kneading trigger the gluten to tighten, resulting in a more durable texture. It’s additionally essential to measure substances precisely and let the dough relaxation as instructed.
Stale bread is drier and crumbles extra simply, making it excellent for breadcrumbs. Contemporary bread incorporates extra moisture, which may end up in clumpy or uneven breadcrumbs. If you happen to solely have recent bread readily available, you’ll be able to dry it out within the oven for the same impact.
Completely! The sausage sauce might be ready a day or two prematurely. The truth is, permitting the sauce to sit down for some time might help the flavors meld collectively even higher. Once you’re able to serve, merely reheat the sauce after which add the freshly boiled gnocchi.
Extra Recipes You Might Like
If you happen to do this bread gnocchi with sausage recipe, do please let me know what you suppose by commenting right here on the weblog or on The Pasta Project Facebook page. Your suggestions is far appreciated!
Buon appetito!
Bread Gnocchi with Sausage
This bread gnocchi with sausage is a significantly good, hearty conventional dish from Umbria. Its wealthy and flavorful sauce pairs excellently with gnocchi and the recipe might be made in below an hour with do-it-yourself bread gnocchi or in below half-hour with store-bought potato gnocchi.
Components
For the breadcrumb gnocchi
- 6 oz Italian ’00’ mushy wheat flour or all goal flour
- 4 oz breadcrumbs do-it-yourself from stale bread or retailer purchased
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup heat water
For sausage and bean sauce
- 7 oz borlotti beans (7oz) precooked or canned
- 3.5 oz guanciale (3.5oz) or pancetta. Minimize into cubes.
- 7 oz tomato passata (3.5oz) or peeled and chopped recent tomatoes
- 2 Italian pork sausages Casing eliminated and meat crumbled
- ½ onion peeled and finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery finely chopped
- 2 carrots finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove peeled and finely chopped
- 3 tbsp further virgin olive oil
- salt for gnocchi and to style
Directions
Methods to make bread gnocchi (might be skipped if utilizing store-bought)
-
Combine the breadcrumbs, flour and a tsp of salt collectively in a bowl. Slowly add the nice and cozy water whereas utilizing your arms to work the substances right into a dough. Notice: You could not want all of the water or it’s possible you’ll want so as to add a bit extra. The dough must be mushy and barely cheesy however not moist.
-
Flip the dough out onto a pastry board and knead just a little. Not rather a lot as in any other case your gnocchi can be too dense. Cowl the dough with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and let it relaxation for 30-60 minutes.
-
After letting the dough relaxation, make the gnocchi by rolling items of dough into ‘snakes’ about 1.5 cm (0.5ins) thick after which slicing the snakes into small 1-2 cm (0.5-0.75 ins) items.
-
Put the prepared gnocchi onto a tray or tea towel that’s been dusted with flour when you make the remaining and the sauce. Tip: I discover semolina flour is one of the best for dusting.
Methods to make the Sausage Sauce
-
In a Dutch oven or massive pot, sauté onion, garlic, celery, and carrots in olive oil over low warmth. Improve the warmth to medium-high, then add guanciale and sausage mince. Brown the guanciale and sausage mince this could take about 5-7 minutes.
-
After browning the meat, combine within the tomato passata and prepare dinner for an extra quarter-hour.
-
Alter with salt, add beans, and let simmer for one more 10 minutes.
-
Simply earlier than you might be able to serve, boil the breadcrumb gnocchi in salted water. As they float to the floor, transfer them with a slotted spoon to the sauce. Make certain to do a style check earlier than including the gnocchi to the sausage sauce.
-
Combine completely and serve garnished with grated pecorino.
Notes
- Don’t Over-Kneading the Gnocchi: Extreme kneading could make your gnocchi dense, inflicting you to lose that mushy texture.
- Resting the Dough: This step shouldn’t be skipped. Resting relaxes the gluten, which ensures the gnocchi stays tender and never robust.
- Cooking Gnocchi: The Gnocchi needs to be prepared when it floats to the floor of boiling water. Make certain to style the gnocchi once you suppose it’s prepared, and to not overcook it as it will possibly result in a mushy texture.
- Cooked Dish Storage: Leftover Bread Gnocchi and Sausage might be saved in an hermetic fridge container for 2-3 days. For finest outcomes, reheat on the range over medium warmth with a splash of water.
Diet
Energy: 828kcalCarbohydrates: 73gProtein: 23gFats: 49gSaturated Fats: 15gPolyunsaturated Fats: 4gMonounsaturated Fats: 16gLdl cholesterol: 69mgSodium: 1635mgPotassium: 745mgFiber: 8gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 5396IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 117mgIron: 6mg
SAVE THIS RECIPE FOR LATER?
If you wish to save this recipe for later, you’ll be able to print it, bookmark this web page or put it aside to Pinterest.
In case you are concerned about studying learn how to make do-it-yourself pasta and several types of gnocchi, take a look at my store web page for some nice video on-line programs from my associates in Rome! Nothing beats studying to make pasta from Italians! Plus when you’re there why not order a duplicate of one among my pasta recipe cookbooks or checkout some beneficial pasta making instruments?
