Pinot, Bretzels, and Cathedrals

2022.  The days continue to grow more bizarre.

I remember 2 years ago when we first heard of Covid in China, and we were warned that a pandemic was on the way I was on sick-leave recovering from stress injury, and almost as soon as I returned to work after a fortnight off,  ready to get back to a work rhythm, Covid arrived in Italy. A few weeks later it was on the Mulhouse doorstep, and soon after we scurried off to our homes for 2 weeks of lockdown.  As if that would make a difference.

Look at us now.

I honestly did not take in the whole “This will be like the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, which took more than 2 years to run its course” scenario.  I mean- collectively as a entire world, surely we have a bit more sense these days than in 1918, even without fully appreciating how the globe has moved on.

But the reality is, we are all too greedy to have common sense.

Was that initial ‘stay-home’ policy a game-changer?  Has it prolonged the pandemic course?  It may have prolonged the inevitable really, and the truth is, we are all way more aware of human rights in 2019-20-21-22 that we cannot just allow the sick and dying to just die alone in bed in their homes, so the focus has been on making sure we have hospital beds for the pandemic ill to get better.

No matter which way we look at our situations now, there will be debates and essays written in the decades to follow.  We will be able to write the story of the Covid Pandemic; a tale passed on down to the generations of when offices changed working conditions, airplanes stopped flying, travel business’ shut down, while Pharma became rich, like the weapons sellers did in times of wars.

We adopted pets, we tried to embrace the outdoors a little more, we built bread cultures and baked and had to create a new repertoire of family menus to  avoid boredom. We’re still nowhere close to being done with this pandemic, but there will be a shift in something soon. Surely the queues I see outside the pharmacy every morning for tests will eventually mean we’ve all had the virus and herd immunity, and this thing will become more of an annoying-but-not-deadly-flu for the next 10 years?  Because while it’s okay for office people to work from home, and it won’t affect their output too immensely, situations like I currently find myself are possibly even more ludicrous than lockdown circa 2020.

Both of my 2 kitchen colleagues at the pub have tested positive this week. (We’re a team of 3…)  It means that the workload falls onto healthy me- which isn’t the best idea given the standard may drop and I’ll suffer a mental breakdown, but perhaps life wouldn’t be life without occasional challenges?

The situation is not ideal, but I would secretly love to be able to stay home with the family for a few days, but alas, it seems that my mental health is about to be stretched…

In general this week, restaurants seem to be quieter anyway, so I have less pressure on my routine (small mercies right?).  This down-time is also allowing me to catch up on some recipe writings.  This post today is to share my ideas on a gnocchi & butternut sauce recipe that I tried out at work a few weeks ago.  It’s just a different suggestion for family dinners, or even a little gathering of friends, and whether or not you’ll find it easy or practical, I would love some feedback.

Butternut Cream served with crisp Ham, deep fried Capers and Parmesan shavings.

The recipe is 3 fold, so I’ll write notes on the different aspects, even though each step is easy, they might need a little explaining.

First up, a Butternut Cream Sauce.

I used the following, which made enough sauce for at least 10 portions, so freeze the excess for another time.

Butternut Cream Sauce

* 2 kgs butternut

* 100g shallots

* 1 litre cream

* 30ml oil and butter

* 1 tablespoon ground cumin

* salt and pepper.

Peel and cube butternut, add it, the shallots, oil and butter, cumin and seasoning to a flat roasting pan, and roast for 20 minutes around 180 degrees C. It doesn’t have to be fully cooked, but you’re looking for the crispy golden roast flavour.

Remove from the oven and add it to a large pot.

Pour over enough cream to cover the butternut- approximately 1 litre.  Bring to the boil, lower the temperature and then allow to it simmer until the butternut is soft.  This will take around 12-5-20 minutes.

Blend it with an immersion blender, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and set aside.

While your butternut is in the oven, you can prepare the deep-fried capers and ham crisps. 

Capers:

Deep-fried capers are the absolute schizzle.  Crispy, salty, a little bit more-ish.  I’m certain you can pop then in your air-fryer if you have one, or cook them in oil as I do.  Because they’re preserved, you can make your effort worth the while to cook more than just 2 tablespoons, and you can leave them in a bowl to sprinkle over salads, or whatever if you don’t use them all up immediately.

I buy capers in brine- they should be easy to find in the supermarket aisles near pickled items.  They need to be drained from the brine and patted dry on paper towel.

In a small pot, add enough cooking oil to cover the bottom, approximately a centimetre deep.  Heat the oil up over a medium heat and gently drop the dried capers into the oil.  They will sizzle immediately, but as they cook through, the sizzling will slow down.  Using a slotted spoon, remove them from the oil and leave on a piece of paper-towel to absorb the excess oil.

Ham Shards:

The second topping to this meal is the crispy ham shards.  I love the different texture that they bring, and when you cook the ham to crisp point, it heightens the sense of salt, thereby complimenting the sweetness of the butternut sauce.

The ham I would choose needs to be a dry cured ham.  Varieties of this include Parma Ham, Prosciutto, Serrano Ham, Black Forest Ham, Bayonne Ham and Iberican Ham (here’s the European-based chick naming all the neighbouring country’s dry-cured hams).

Typically these are sold pre-sliced, and all it will require on your part for dinner is to separate the slices, place them side by side, not overlapping, onto a lined baking tray.  Place that into the oven while your butternut is cooking, and cook for about 5 minutes. The pieces will shrink in size, which is expected.  Remove from the oven, and set aside to cool down: they will crisp up as they do so.

All the above can be prepared in advance, and assembly will take 5 minutes just before serving.

To serve:

(Dinner for 3-4)

* 1kg prepared gnocchi

* Butternut cream sauce

* 8 (or more if you’re able to) slices of dry cured ham

* deep fried capers

* Parmesan or Pecorino shavings.

Fill a large pot of water and a generous pinch of salt and bring to boiling point.  Drop the gnocchi in, and once it floats to the surface, you can drain through a colander. (A spider strainer is ideal if you have- you can do smaller portions back to back ;-).).  If you don’t have a large 5 litre pot, you will have to cook gnocchi in smaller batches

Add 200ml cream to a large wok-like pan, and bring to the boil.  Once boiling, add 3-4 large soup-ladle spoonfuls of butternut sauce and bring to a simmer, adding the strained gnocchi and stir it through the sauce.  The sauce should be able to coat the gnocchi.

Serve in large pasta bowls.  Place your ham shards on, add shavings of cheese and sprinkle with capers, and serve.

Are you a gnocchi fan?

Click below for a printable document.

Anyway, that’s me and my ramblings for the weekend. Hope this finds you in good health.

Hugs and best wishes,

G.

Xx