Ingredients
| 400g semola flour (superfine semolina, found at speciality food stores) | |
| 200ml warm water | |
| coarse semolina for dusting |
The most common question I am asked is where to start if someone has never made pasta before and hand-rolled gnocchi sardi (also known as malloreddus) is always my answer. It is made from a simple flour and water dough and is rolled out by hand, so no roller is required. I roll mine on a wooden gnocchi board but anything with a texture works and the grooves are the perfect place for sauce to cling.
Try this with Creamy Pumpkin & ’Nduja Gnocchi Sardi with Herby Panko Crumbs
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Instructions
| 1. | Tip the flour out onto the bench and press the bottom of a bowl into it to make a well in the middle. |
| 2. | Pour the warm water into the well then use a fork to start whisking, slowly and carefully incorporating the flour into the middle. |
| 3. | When the centre liquid gets really thick, abandon the fork and go straight in with your hands or alternatively use a bench scraper to start mixing it all together until you end up with an even, shaggy mixture. |
| 4. | Bring it together into a ball and start to knead – this will be messy but it will come together, I promise. |
| 5. | Knead quite vigorously for a few minutes until it comes together into a slightly dimpled ball. Wrap tightly and leave for 10 minutes. |
| 6. | After 10 minutes, knead again for 3-4 minutes until you get a really smooth ball of dough. |
| 7. | Wrap again and rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes but preferably an hour or up to three hours. |
| 8. | Prepare a tray lined with baking paper and dusted with a layer of coarse semolina, to stop the gnocchi from sticking. |
| 9. | Slice a section off the ball and form it into a sausage shape, then with your hands really flat roll it until it is long and even, starting in the middle and working out with your fingers splayed. |
| 10. | You want to end up with a long strand the width of a finger. |
| 11. | Cut the strip into 2cm pieces then using a gnocchi board or anything with a texture, roll the little pieces down the board with your thumb until they curl over themselves. |
| 12. | Press quite hard so that it doesn’t end up too thick – you’ll get the hang of it after a few. |
| 13. | If your pieces are sticking, dust your board with some flour. Repeat until all your dough is used up. |
| 14. | They are fine sitting out at room temperature if you are going to use them straight away. |
| 15. | If not, pop the tray, uncovered, into the freezer until frozen then place into a container and keep in the freezer to be cooked from frozen. |
Recipes & food styling Emilie Pullar / Photography Tony Nyberg / Art direction Fiona Lascelles