#6: Gnocchi with bacon and rosemary

In an attempt to start pushing myself a bit harder with this 52 dishes challenge, I decided to try my hand at making gnocchi. Thus far the dishes I've made each week for this challenge haven't been much of a challenge, which I suppose seems somewhat perverse. Unlike many new years resolutions, this one is still going strong into February, and I'm glad of that, but I'd definitely like to start learning a few more new recipes and techniques. So, armed with a couple of potatoes and a recipe I found following a brief "easy gnocchi recipe" search, I headed into the world of gnocchi-making.

This recipe is strongly inspired by the Kitchen Konfidence 'Rustic Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter Sauce', adapted to account for what I had in the fridge at the time (an abundance of bacon). I also opted to simply boil the potatoes at the beginning rather than roast them, given that I began cooking already hungry!

On the whole, these were great, particularly for a first attempt! The gnocchi were soft and light, which made a lovely change from the heavy, stodgy ones I seem to buy at the grocers. However, they weren't the very best looking of gnocchi, as I didn't take enough care when rolling them to make them uniform and smooth, plus some got a little squished as I turned them in the pan. I'd definitely try to do this more carefully next time. Finally, I made these gnocchi for lunch, and I'd likely increase these portions if cooking it for dinner.

Serves 2 (as lunch)

c.1 hour total, including initial boiling, cooling etc.

3 medium potatoes
1 egg
flour for dough and rolling (around 1 cup)
3 rashers of bacon
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
olive oil, salt and pepper

1. Peel, chop and boil potatoes
2. Drain potatoes and mash them in a mixing bowl with some salt. Allow to cool.
3. While the potatoes cool, chop bacon and rosemary into small pieces and fry slowly in olive oil.
4. When cooled, beat one egg and enough flour into the mashed potatoes to make a smooth but sticky dough. This will be about half a cup of flour.
5. Taking small sections of the dough, roll them on a floured surface to make small dumplings. Note: you can then leave these here until you're ready to cook.
6. Place the gnocchi in a pan of boiling water.
7. As the gnocchi cook they will rise to the surface. Scoop them out as they do, and place them in the frying pan with the bacon and rosemary. Do this until all gnocchi are in the frying pan and coated with the oil-bacon-rosemary mix.

Serve with parmesan and a chick flick - this is pure comfort food!