SURPRISINGLY GOOD: FRIED GNOCCHI

I got the idea for this from a recipe in Nigella Express, but I had also eaten an Asian-inspired dish containing fried gnocchi at The Wookey Hole Inn some years before - and liked it. There is quite often a packet of gnocchi lurking in my fridge. It's a handy stand-by for a quick lunch or supper, and I particularly like it with a sauce made from grated and fried courgettes with garlic and lots of fresh parmesan. When I was on holiday in Liguria last September, I ate a lot of gnocchi as it is a speciality of the region. Very occasionally I make my own (with butternut squash) but it is rather labour-intensive, and can be tricky to get right when cooking as it can fall apart.

Since gnocchi is (usually) made from potato, fried gnocchi makes a nice alternative to chips for children, especially small children who tend to have a penchant for "dinky food",  and it has a pleasant "mouth feel" as it is crisp on the outside and soft in the middle. Mmmmm. It's particularly good with sausages, or fried chicken (I usually flatten a chicken breast between sheets of cling film and marinade it quickly in smoked paprika, cumin and garlic). In her book, Nigella offers it with a quick mustard pork chop. She calls it "Rapid Roastini", which I'm afraid I find rather twee. However, she does also suggest using friend gnocchi as a neat little canape, served with a piquant dip, perhaps. I will try it out on some dinner guests and report back.

Meanwhile, here's the Domestic Goddess herself (the other one!), to tell you how to do it.


Nigella's Rapid Roastini

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