Friday, November 21, 2014

FFwD - Storzapreti (Corsican Spinach Gnocchi)


Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is „Storzapretis (Corsican Spinach Gnocchi)“ – a wonderful dish of end of week comfort - and certainly worth making.




Gnocchi are small Italian dumplings usually made from potato, flour (traditionally buckwheat flour) and egg and shaped into small ovals with a ridged pattern on one side. They can also be made from semolina flour, as they are in Rome. Or, as in this recipe, they can be prepared with fresh ricotta or brocciu (a cheese produced from ewe's milk on the island of Corsica, where it is considered a national food). Gnocchi are often poached and then cooked au gratin (with grated cheese) in the oven and served as a hot starter. They are served in a similar way to pasta often with a cheese- or tomato-based sauce and freshly grated parmesan. They can also be added to soups, stews and casseroles.




Dorie´s recipe for the Storzapreti is a two-step process. I started with the preparation of the spinach gnocchi. You will be required to follow the recipe rather closely. Cook the spinach, drain very well and chop finely. Then add the brocciu or ricotta, an egg, grated cheese (I used Parmigiano Reggiano), mint or majoram (I used fresh basil and Italian parsley instead), a bit of flour, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Using two tablespoons, you will form quenelle, freeze them for a good thirty minutes. While the gnocchis get the cold treatment, it is a good time to make the fresh tomato sauce – I just prepared my very favorite recipe with previously oven-roasted cherry tomatoes, black olives, capers, a bit of garlic and more fresh basil – I reduced it quiet a bit until it had a nice, thick consistency.




Carefully cook the gnocchi in barely simmering, salted water, drain, add the tomato sauce to an oven-proof dish, layer the gnocchi in or on the sauce, add some more cheese on top, pop in the oven, bake for a bit and serve piping hot.

Whimsical pasta shapes such as these Corsican gnocchi invite inspiration in the kitchen and are just plain fun to eat. That´s at least what my taste testers thought – our kids absolutely adored them.




To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed this recipe, please go here.




For copyright reasons, we do not publish the recipes from the book. But you can find the recipe for the "Storzapreti (Corsican Spinach Gnocchi)" on pages 376-377 in Dorie Greenspan´s cookbook "Around my French Table".


42 comments:

  1. Your storzapretis are presented so beautifully. I used jarred passata for my sauce!

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    1. Gaye, passata sounds delicious - I just went with our very favorite pasta sauce of oven-roasted cherry tomatoes and then some.

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  2. Just beautiful, Andrea! I like how large you made the gnocchi - less time consuming too, yes?

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    1. Cathleen, thank you - I shaped them according to the recipe, that´s all - the recipe was very time consuming and I do not remember cutting any corners during my prolonged stay in the kitchen...

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  3. Storzapreti sounds so lovely. We should've named Daisy that!
    And it looks so delicious.
    Andrea, your pictures are always so delectable. Your presentation is gorgeous, as always. Love the edible flowers!
    Hope you and your family have a wonderful w/end ahead of you. Sending lots of love from far away. xoxo

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    1. Dear Colette, why not name a child after some delicious Italian food - why we do not really have that option in this country (has to be a registerd name), after having tasted these, it makes perfect sense to me. Seriously, thank you my dear for your wonderful comment! All is well - we will be attending the first charitable Christmas bazar today - looking forward to having my Stollen and Burnt Sugar Almonds sold for a very worthy cause.

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  4. I love your presentation and you shaped them perfectly, Andrea! So glad you all loved them - I did, too.

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    1. Teresa, so very kind of you, thank you - I was just so very glad that these kept their shape - I froze part of them for thirty minutes, the others went in the fridge - same result - so, no need to freeze them for fear of them falling apart.

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  5. I can see that kids would love to eat these. Your quenelles are perfect!

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  6. Oh, Andrea, so much to write about, so little time. I know your schedule has been hectic the past few weeks and you make homemade tomato sauce for this dish??? Anything with black olives and capers work for me so I will google that recipe. I like that you made each serving in individual dishes. I still have several sets of those and never think to use them. Since I decided to not make Storzapreti until January, this is something I will remember. Yes, I imagine those young ladies you live with thought these were something special. Although i don't think you have published your stollen recipe before, I do think you've written about your Burnt Sugar Almonds so I will go back into the archives and look for both. Let me know the result of the auction. Wish I were there to bid for it. Loved the pictures on Facebook. I am anxious to hear all about your first Julia Childs cooking/teaching experience. How lucky they were to entice you to teach. Enjoy all your school/kids holiday activities. This time goes by so quickly so savor the moments. I made Roasted Parsnip Chips with Shallots yesterday and they were delicious. The DonnaDeux, my 2 good friends who live down valley, were attending an iPad class with me at our Aspen library so they came here for lunch and a taste testing - we ate them all (supposed to serve 4-6). I am off to spend Thanksgiving with my kids. I am meeting them in Death Valley National Park for our 7th annual Thanksgiving there. The big issue is if Grandma can make it up to the highest sand dune again this year. Hopefully, I can!!! Sending hugs and love to those girls. (My goodness, this has not been a comment, it's been a letter.)

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    1. Dear Mary, such a lovely comment/letter!!! Enjoyed reading it a few times so I would not miss anything.The Burnt Sugar Almonds recipe can be found here http://kitchenlioness.blogspot.de/2014/09/september-fairgrounds-putzchens-markt.html. The Stollen recipe will appear tomorrow. The recipe for the tomato sauce is not written down anywhere, but I will send it to you if you get a chance to make it and need the recipe. The Christmas bazaar was a smashing success - more pics later tomorrow together with the Stollen recipe and the Julia Child Cooking Classes are starting to take shape - no pics yet, only pics of "my food" but in due course, I shall get around to writing a blog post about that.
      Have a fabulous Thanksgiving and a great time with family and friends, enjoy all the fun and the food and so much more!
      Hugs and kisses from all of us - liebe Grüsse,
      Andrea

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  7. That sauce sounds fantastic and a great match for the storzapretis! I will definitely try that style of sauce when I make these again. The kiddo here thought it was good as well. Your photos are just absolutely gorgeous, especially that last with the pretty fall leaf.

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    1. Katie, the thick and rich tomato sauce is a nice match to the soft and pillowy Storzapreti - and the kids mopped up the rest of that sauce with some lovely Italian ciabatta. Thank you so much for your kind and considerate comment! So glad that you enjoyed the pics!

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  8. Hello Andrea, The Storzapreti look so pillowy and colorfully sensational! I love the use of basil and parsley as well as the sauce reduction that surely provided a rich deep flavor in addition to the color contrast. Your pictures are always so beautiful!

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    1. Peggy, thank you for the very kind comment on your blog post - I truly appreciate our friendship and your support and I am so happy that you decided to join us for the Cottage Cooking Club - it is always such a joy to cook and bake along with you! Thank you also for today´s kind comment - glad that you enjoy this post - I am one that enjoys a very thick and flavorful tomato sauce with olives, capers and lots of fresh herbs - rather than a plain tomato sauce (which is also nice sometimes).

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  9. Lovely idea to make individual servings! Beautiful.

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    1. Cher, individual servings are just such a good idea sometimes - just makes life easier when we are sitting down for lunch or dinner with the kids. Thank you for the kind comment!

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  10. Hi Andrea, this looks like a dish that everyone in my family would enjoy, beautiful pics and presentation.

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  11. I'm glad the girls also enjoyed this one, Andrea. It seems the kind of food children would like if they can get past the green flecks! I don't believe my grandson can but I have some in the freezer I thought I would try on him when he comes next week. Your tomato sauce sounds delicious. I will try capers in mine next time. We had tomato pizza with capers last night and said how much we like them but just don't think to use them very often. Beautiful photos, as usual!

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    1. Guyla, peolple always look at me a little strangely when I say that we all love capers quite a bit and by that I mean, the whole family, kids and all. They add such a nice tang to a lot of dishes and add a welcome taste component to my tomato sauce and grilled chicken recipe. And I also thought that the storzapretis might taste a bit bland in a simple tomato sauce - just a personal taste thing though.

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  12. Absolutely stunning photos Andrea. You sound like a very busy bee with all you have going on. I don't know how you do it all, but
    good luck. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

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    1. Rosemary, thank you - this time of year seems to be so filled to the rim with activities for all of us - while it is a lot of fun for everyone, it can take a bit more of the usual planning and organizing, that´s true.

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  13. You did exactly the right thing, "follow the recipe carefully" I made the mistake of thinking I could wing it like my grandmother used to making pasta. Gorgeous pictures glad it worked so well for you.

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    1. Diane, these days, I am making a real effort not to veer off the original recipes too much, to give the authors credit where credit is due. While that does not always work out so well for me and I tend to prepare the dishes following my tried and true ways of doing things, I felt that staying as close to the original recipe as possible was in order here - mostly for the fear of those "storzapretis" falling apart in the water.

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  14. This was quite delicious, as your photos show. I'm glad you and your family enjoyed it. We liked it too, though I doubt I'll make it again. I used a simple marinara sauce, but love the sound of a sauce with oven-dried tomatoes, olives and capers: some of my favorite flavors. Cook on, Andrea! Have a great week.

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    1. Betsy, "cook on" seems to be a good motto this week - I am trying to fit in so many dishes and recipes these days, I can hardly keep up with blogging and comments these days - but I am doing my best not to fall behind too much.

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  15. A lovely dish served on an equally gorgeous plate…..looks amazing!

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    1. Jeannie, thank you ver ymuch - we really enjoyed this recipe - I will make it again some time - as soon as I have the time.

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  16. What a lovely idea to bake these in indivual portions. I regret not having doubled the recipe so that I could still have some of these tucked away in my freezer. Freezing them in individual portions would have been even better.

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    1. Rose, thanks so much - whenever I think that individual servings are all I can handle at the dinner table, I make them...seriously, sometimes I just like serving food that way and it makes for "easier dining" at our table - we loved that recipe and I shall keep my eyes peeled for some more fresh spinach.

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  17. As I said to Kathy (bakeawaywithme), I am very curious about the name, as the dish "strozzapreti" means "priest stranglers" and are usually a small, rolled pasta. Is this Corsican dish a variation on them? Is it a transliteration? Storza is so close to strozza - do you know?

    Yours, too, look wonderful and I can't wait to try them! ~ David

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    1. Dear David, now that I have already explained on your blog the rather huge difference between "strozzapetri" (the fusili-shaped pasta called "priest stranglers") and the "storzapreti" (the Corsican gnocchi-type dumplings) - they have nothing in common - I shall continue on with sending a big fat "Thank you" your way for all your lovely comments!
      Wishing Mark and you a very Happy Thanksgiving!
      Andrea & Co.

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  18. Beautiful outside photos. Kuddos to you for making your tomato sauce on top of everything else in this recipe. We enjoyed the flavors of these even though it was a fair amount of work.

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    1. Diane, well, I always make the tomato sauce myself - it is a cinch to make and we really like it that way. Come to think of it, I never prepared store-bought tomato sauce - be that as it may, this was one winning recipe, we loved it. Thank you very much for your kind comment!

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  19. Oh, beautiful as always Andrea! Your storzapretis turned out perfect.

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    1. Adriana, thank you kindly - glad that you enjoy my post!

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  20. You've made me crave another batch! Beautifully done!

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    1. Liz, from what I have seen and read in all the other FFwD posts, this seems to have been another winning Dorie recipe.

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  21. pretty! thanks for sharing, Andrea!

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