I wasn't really sure what I would think of this week's recipe for French Fridays with Dorie. I don't have the book in front of me at the moment, but I remember reading Dorie's introduction/description (incidentally, probably my most favorite part of Dorie's books - always so helpful and fun!) being something along the lines of being choux dough cooked like gnocchi in a pot of salted water, then layered with bechamel sauce and cheese, then baked until bubbly and golden. I mean really, what's not to like about that? Especially on a snowy day! I do love me some choux pastry, so it didn't seem like much of a stretch that I would like this.
Since the recipe makes enough to serve 6 as a main course I also knew I was going to end up taking Dorie's suggestion to shape some of the dough onto a baking sheet and freezing them for later use. I'm glad I did because making a double-layer in my two little ramekins was just the perfect size for me and the boys. Cups full of doughy, cheesy goodness as Aidan called them.
To make matters easy for shaping the gnocchi I used a really small cookie scoop that I have and just scraped it so it was only half-full to equal the teaspoon amount for each dumpling. I ended up with a sheet pan full for the freezer, plus about 20 more for my two ramekins.
I layered the gnocchi in two layers of 5 in the ramekins, with the bechamel sauce in between each layer, and then generously topped them with shredded Gruyere cheese. I baked them for the same amount of time as the recipe - roughly about 25 minutes in all - and they puffed up beautifully, but did deflate fairly quickly. Now that I know what to expect next time, I'll know better how to layer them, probably packing them in even a little tighter into the ramekins and another layer of Parmesan in the middle.
Anyway, cups full of doughy, cheesy goodness indeed.
For more cheesy goodness, just head on over to the French Fridays with Dorie site and scroll on through the LYL post to see how the other cooks faired this week. As always, the recipe for the Gnocchi a la Parisienne can be found in Around My French Table, by Dorie Greenspan.
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15 comments:
I had never seen gnocchi before, so I just picked up teaspoonfull globs with my fingers and plopped them into boiling water.
Yours looks fabulous.
Wow they really did puff up a lot! Great suggestion to freeze the rest for another day.
Love the idea of the individuals. Yours look so inviting and tasty. Great photos. I enjoyed the post. B:)
There you go, making me hungry! I have got to get that book already! Holly, that first photo, wow, looks really, really delicious!
Great shot....makes me want to make it again!
Whoa super cool! I've never heard of gnocchi being made this way but this is so incredibly decadent.
Those gnocchi look terrific! I loved how much mine puffed too...but alas they depuffed by the time they were on the table. Such a yummy dish!
So glad you liked it, and I LOVE that first photo - just lovely =)
I opted out this week because I just wasn't in the mood for a heavy dish. After seeing yours though, I'm beginning to wish I had made it. It looks delicious!
Great photos! I'll be interested to hear how the frozen ones come out. I froze a pie plate full of gnocchi (but without any sauce).
Next time I make this I'm going to do like you did and make them in smaller, single serving portions. I love your gooey cheese!
Oh my. this looks fabulous. And rich.
Oh my. this looks fabulous. And rich.
Very lovely pictures. Can I have a dish???
Great thought on freezing some of them.
That first shot is absolutely gorgeous.
I froze most of mine, too, and made a small baking dish full.
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