Cook Like a Clerkenwell Chef | February/March

In need of some midwinter comfort food? Palatino’s pillowy gnocchi drizzled with brown butter and topped with crisp sage leaves hits all the right spots. It’s on the menu at Stevie Parle’s acclaimed Italian restaurant right now. Below Parle shares his gnocchi recipe, so you can also get that comfort-fix at home…
Serves 5
Makes 25 pieces of gnocchi, 5 per person
Palatino’s Gnocchi alla Romana and sage
Ingredients
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1l milk 200g fine semolina for pasta 100g grated Parmesan, plus extra, to serve 2 egg yolks 100g butter, plus extra to make browned butter Fresh sage leaves Fresh nutmeg, to grate on top
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Method
To make the gnocchi, heat the milk in a saucepan until it is just before the boiling point. Turn the heat down to low, and very slowly start pouring in the semolina in a steady stream, beating it constantly with a whisk.
Keep beating until it becomes heavy and starts sticking to the whisk , about 10 minutes.
Take off the heat, stir in 70g of the Parmesan, a good pinch of salt, the yolks and 50g of the btter. Stir quickly until all the ingredients are mixed.
Line a flat baking tray, spread the hot semolina mix over the paper, smoothing it out to a thickness of roughly 1cm/1⁄2in. Leave to cool completely for at least 30 minutes.
Cover a baking tray with greaseproof paper and butter it generously. Using a 4cm-wide biscuit cutter or small glass, cut the cooled semolina into rounds, wetting the cutter with water to prevent sticking.
Transfer the rounds to the tray, dot with the remaining butter and sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan. Place in the oven until a light golden crust has formed.
To serve, melt butter in a pan over a medium heat until it starts to brown and gives off a delicious nutty aroma. Fry some sage leaves in a separate pan until crisp.
Spoon the brown butter and crispy sage on top of the gnocchi, grate your nutmeg over and serve.