After another wonderful meal at Il Rigoletto it was time to learn from a very talented chef.
While everything he cooks is fantastic, his Gnocchi fritto was on top of my list to master. Gnoccho Fritto is a fried dough that is traditionally eaten with Prosciutto di Parma and Culatello (the best ham in Emilia Romagna made from heart of the leg, however it is not allowed into the US. Too bad for us!) These soft fried pillows of dough are torn open warm and then filled with the ham to be served as an appertivo with a glass of Lambrusco. They are not as easy to prepare as they look! I had tried to make them for my friends when I came back from Italy last year, but they turned out more like fried wontons than fried pillows.
The dish only requires four ingredients – which is the perfect example of Italian simplicity, something I’ve learned from Chef Mantuano over the years. The challenge when preparing simple food is that there is not a ton of over powering flavors to hide poor execution. That morning I was going to learn Gianni’s secrets.
00 flour, olive oil, milk and salt are the key players. All the ingredients are kneaded into a soft dough. Then the dough is rolled thin and cut into squares. The squares must chill for 2 hours- the most important step! If you skip it you’ll get my famous fried wontons. It is also important that there is not too much flour on the squares, it weighs them down in the fryer and keeps them from puffing up. I ate these fried gnoocho in the kitchen with Gianni with sliced culatello and they were out-of-this world! I’m so excited to get working on this for Spiaggia!
Frying Gnoccho Fritto, the squares of dough inflate as you fry them. Then, while warm, tear the pillow open and fill with sliced prosciutto!