TINY POTATO DUMPLINGS WITH TOMATO, ONION, AND GUANCIALE SAUCE (GNOCCHETTI ALL' AMATRICIANA)

facebook share image   twitter share image   pinterest share image   E-Mail share image



Tiny Potato Dumplings with Tomato, Onion, and Guanciale Sauce (Gnocchetti all' Amatriciana) image

These tiny gnocchi are tender, so place the cooked pasta in a bowl and spoon the porky sauce over top, instead of tossing the two together.

Categories     Gourmet     Pork     Potato     Tomato     Sauté     Winter     Pasta

Yield 8 first-course servings

Number Of Ingredients 16

For sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 oz guanciale (cured pork jowl)* or pancetta, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 large red onion, finely chopped (1 1/4 cups)
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 (28- to 32-oz) can plum tomatoes, drained (reserving juice) and finely chopped
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
For gnocchetti:
1 1/2 lb yellow-fleshed potatoes such as Yukon Gold
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Accompaniment: finely grated Pecorino Romano
Special Equipment
a potato ricer

Steps:

  • Make sauce:
  • Heat oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté guanciale and onion, stirring, until onion is golden, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and sauté, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes with reserved juice, water, sugar, and salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes.
  • Make gnocchetti:
  • Cover potatoes with salted cold water by 2 inches in a large pot, then simmer, uncovered, until very tender, about 25 minutes. Drain in a colander and, when cool enough to handle, peel.
  • Force warm potatoes through ricer into a large bowl. Add flour and salt and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture begins to come together. Gently form dough into a ball and cut in half.
  • Knead each dough half on a floured surface until smooth, about 1 minute (if dough sticks to surface, dust lightly with additional flour). Cut each half evenly into 10 pieces. Roll 1 piece into a 14-inch-long rope (1/2 inch thick), keeping remaining pieces covered with a kitchen towel. Cut rope crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces and toss pieces lightly with flour on work surface.
  • Press a piece of dough against tines of a floured fork and push with a floured thumb in a forward rolling motion toward end of tines, letting gnocchetti fall from fork into a well-floured shallow baking pan. Make more gnocchetti in same manner.
  • Just before cooking, gently shake gnocchetti in 4 batches in a large medium-mesh sieve to knock off excess flour. Cook gnocchetti in 4 batches in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling salted water until they float, about 1 minute. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large shallow bowl as cooked and spoon some sauce on top.

There are no comments yet!