Every Friday evening, our village market holds a wine tasting which has become a neighborhood gathering. The market owners use the event as an opportunity to introduce new products. One that caught my eye recently was a package of potato gnocchi imported from Italy and made by Del Destino Foods with the advantage that they required no refrigeration and could be stored in the pantry.
I very much like well-made gnocchi, although they are somewhat hard to find, even in good restaurants. They are often too leaden or else disintegrate rather than being the fluffy cloud like pillows that they can be. I’ve tried to make my own, but they take a bit of work and mine have really been no better than others. I was inspired to buy a package of cellophane-wrapped gnocchi for a trial at home. I could have just opted to cook them according to directions and top them with olive oil and grated Parmesan.
Instead, I decided to combine them with lamb in the form of meatballs along with mint pesto. (What’s a better combination than lamb and mint, right?)
To make the meatballs I used a #60 scoop. I didn’t know what that meant, so when I looked up scoops, I learned that they are assigned a number according to size, the number referring to how many scoops it takes to make a quart. So a #60 scoop holds about ½ ounce, level, and more when heaping. In this recipe, you should expect about 30 meatballs.
I liked the way everything turned out, and the gnocchi were good, not great. At least they were not sinkers, they had a good taste, and they were fast. In fact, they were good enough that I will try them again. However, I’ve also made a plan to make my own soon.
RECIPES
Lamb Meatballs
Ingredients
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- ½ cup milk
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup finely chopped shallots
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped green bell pepper
- salt and pepper
- Italian seasoning to taste (optional)
- pure olive oil
Method
- In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and milk. Stir to mix thoroughly and set aside.
- In a larger bowl, combine the ground lamb and egg. Stir in the milk-bread crumb mixture, shallots, and pepper. You may need to use your hands to get the meatball mixture well combined.
- Adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, and, if desired, Italian seasoning.
- Form the meatballs to the size you desire. I think smaller is better.
- In a saucepan over a medium flame, heat the olive oil until it shimmers. Add the meatballs in batches, turning them until they are completely browned. Continue to sauté for an additional 5 minutes until they are cooked through. Keep warm until you are ready to compose the serving bowls.
Mint-Parsley Pesto
Mint and parsley for the pesto
Ingredients
- 1 bunch parsley, stems removed
- 1 package mint, stems removed
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and stem and any green shoots removed
- ½ cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup English walnuts
- salt and pepper
Method
- Place the parsley, mint, garlic, and Parmesan cheese in the beaker of a food processor.
- Pulse, gradually adding olive oil and stopping occasionally to push down the sides with a spatula.
- When the pesto has reached the desired consistency, add the walnuts, pulse briefly, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Lamb Meatballs, Mint-Parsley Pesto, Potato Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 1 package gnocchi cooked according to instructions
- 1 batch mint-parsley pesto (see above)
- 1 batch lamb meatballs (see above)
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Method
- Boil and drain the packaged gnocchi according to instructions. Distribute among 4 pasta bowls
- Top with a desired amount of pesto. You may need to dilute it with a bit of the water reserved from boiling the gnocchi
- Arrange meatballs on top of the pesto. Serve immediately. Pass the grated Parmesan separately.
From the Family Table 