Potato gnocchi with burnt butter, sautéed prawn meat and verjuice
Potato gnocchi with burnt butter, sautéed prawn
meat and verjuice
Celeb Chef Challenge Recipe by Alex Herbert
Serves 6
1.5kg desiree potatoes
1 x 55g egg
2tbls grana parmesan
125g plain flour
2 tsp sea salt
300g fresh prawn meat (about xxg green king prawns)
60g unsalted butter
Salt and pepper
6 tsps salted baby capers, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Verjuice
Sage butter
1 bunch sage
200g unsalted butter
1. Place unpeeled potatoes in a large saucepan of cold
water; bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes or
until tender. The potatoes must be neither under nor over cooked,
test with a skewer when it is easily inserted, they are
cooked. (avoid testing too frequently otherwise they may
become water logged). Drain potatoes into a colander, cover with a
fresh tea towel and place colander over the original pot in a warm
place for 10 minutes to drain completely.
2. Peel potatoes and pass through a mouli, in batches, into
the original dry saucepan.
Gently mix in the egg, salt and parmesan. Sieve in the flour
and combine with a few swift folds.
3. Tip potato mixture onto a lightly floured bench and gently
work it into a smooth homogeneous (uniform) mound.
4. Using a pastry scrape, scrape down the bench, wash and dry your
hands and lightly flour the surface again. Cut off 1/4
of the potato mix at a time and roll out into a sausage shape to a
thickness of about 1 1/2 cm. Cut each sausage into 2cm
pieces. Makes approx 60 pieces.
5. Place these on a tray lined with grease proof paper ready
for cooking in salted boiling water.
6. For the sage butter, heat the butter in a shallow frypan.
When starting to bubble add the sage leaves and cook until crisp
and almost translucent. Pour through a sieve placed over a bowl.
Spread the leaves on paper towel to drain. Keep warm. Reserve
butter
7. When ready to cook the gnocchi, heat 20g of unsalted
butter in a wide fry pan. It should reach beurre noisette
(nut brown stage) before adding 100g of prawn meat. Sauté
for one minute, deglaze with a dash of verjuice and add 2 tsps of
capers.
8. Cook gnocchi in a large pan of boiling salted water, in
small batches of 20 pieces at a time. Shortly after the
gnocchi has risen to the surface (test to see if it is cooked)
remove with a strainer, drain and add to the pan. Toss the pan to
coat the gnocchi in the butter. Season with salt and pepper
and add 1 tbs of chopped parsley. Spoon among 2 serving
plates and top with fried sage leaves.
9. Deglaze the pan with a little of the sage butter
previously saved and pour over the finished gnocchi. Repeat twice
more to complete 6 serves.
