To drink: The richness of the truffles, gnocchi, cheese and butter call for a voluptuous wooded Chardonnay.
Pan-fried truffled gnocchi with Parmesan and burnt sage butter
Ingredients
- 3 large potatoes
- 15ml (1 tbsp) salt
- 5ml (1 tsp) freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Kalahari truffle, chopped
- cake flour (enough to bring the potato mixture to the right consistency)
- 100g butter
- 4 sage leaves
- juice of 1 lemon wedge
- 30g (3 tbsp) butter
- Parmesan shavings, to serve
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Prick the potatoes, then place in the oven until soft and cooked through. Remove and scoop out all the potato flesh, discarding the skin. Push the potato flesh through a fine mesh sieve or potato ricer to ensure all lumps are removed.
Add the salt, pepper and truffle to the potato and mix well. Then add enough flour into the mix so that it’s not sticky and you can form a ball.
Roll the mixture into a log shape on a lightly floured work surface then, with a sharp knife, cut on the diagonal into bite-size portions. Place the gnocchi pieces in a pot of boiling water until they float, then drain.
Melt the 100g butter in a pan and add the sage leaves. When the butter turns nutty golden, add the lemon juice and set aside for the flavours to infuse.
Melt the 30g butter in a hot frying pan. When it has turned a golden brown colour, add the gnocchi and sauté until golden and crispy.
Sprinkle with Parmesan, drizzle over the burnt sage butter, top with the crispy sage leaves and serve.
Cook’s tip: If you can’t find Kalahari truffles, substitute with 30ml of truffle oil, drizzling a little extra truffle oil over the dish before serving. Alternatively, you can substitute the Kalahari truffle with 30g of dried porcini mushrooms – first soak the mushrooms in boiling water until reconstituted, then fry in warm oil just to seal. Chop up the mushrooms and add to the potato mixture.
Step 1: Melt butter in a pan and add sage leaves, when it is golden brown add lemon juice and set aside to infuse.
Step 2: Scoop out potato flesh and push through a fine sieve or potato ricer.
Step 3: Add salt, pepper, truffle and mix well.
Step 4: Add enough cake flour so it’s not sticky and you can form it into a ball.
Step 5: Roll into a log on a lightly floured surface.
Step 6: Cut diagonally into bitesize portions with a sharp knife.
Step 7: Place into a pot of boiling water until they float.
Step 8: Melt 30g of butter on a pan and add the gnocchi pieces.
Step 9: To serve sprinkle with Parmesan and pour over butter, sage and truffle sauce.
