Gnocchi with onion purée, kale and black garlic paste

Preparation time
less than 30 mins

Cooking time
1 to 2 hours

Serves
Serves 4

Make your own traditional potato gnocchi in this easy-to-follow recipe. Here it is served with onion and garlic purées and massaged kale.

By Matt Tebbutt

From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the gnocchi

2 large baking potatoes (around 600g/1lb 5oz), scrubbed
150g/5½oz Parmesan or Gouda-style hard cheese, grated
2 free-range egg yolks, beaten
150g/5½oz 00 flour, plus extra for dusting
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the onion purée

1 tbsp olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
8 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bay leaf

For the black garlic paste

10 black garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsp olive oil
pinch salt

For the kale

50ml/2fl oz olive oil
200g/7oz kale, chopped
1 lemon, juice only

To serve

50g/1¾oz Old Winchester cheese, grated

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Place the potatoes on a baking tray and cook for 1 hour, or until cooked through.
Once cool enough to handle, remove the flesh from the potatoes and push through a fine sieve or ricer into a large bowl. Leave to cool completely and then stir in the cheese, yolks and flour. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture together to form a dough.
Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll the dough out into a long sausage shape. With a sharp knife cut the dough into dumpling shapes of about 2cm/1in. Set aside.
For the onion purée, heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion, garlic and bay leaf. Sweat for a few minutes until the onions are softened but not coloured. Remove the bay leaf and place the onions and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blitz to a purée and pass through a sieve into a small bowl.
For the black garlic paste, blitz the garlic, oil and salt in a blender or food processor. Add water if you need more liquid to create a paste texture.
For the kale, put the kale on a chopping board and massage the leaves with the olive oil, until they soften and break down. Season with the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and add the gnocchi pieces. Simmer until they rise to the top of the water and then remove with a slotted spoon.
To serve, spoon the onion purée onto warmed plates. Swirl on the black garlic paste and add the gnocchi and kale on top. Scatter with the grated cheese.