METHOD

MAKING THE GNOCCHI

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/ Gas 5.

​2. Wash the Jerusalem artichokes, making sure to remove any dirt from the skin. Dry thoroughly and prick with a fork or small knife, as you might when baking potatoes.

3. Cover the bottom of a baking tray with a thin layer of the coarse salt and place the Jerusalem artichokes on top. Transfer to the oven.

TIP – To make light, fluffy gnocchi, you need your cooked potato, or in this case, artichoke, to be as dry as possible. Baking over salt helps to draw out moisture.

4. Bake the artichokes for 40min or until cooked through. This may vary slightly depending on the size of the Jerusalem artichokes.

5. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

6. Once sufficiently cooled, cut the Jerusalem artichokes in two. Using a spoon, scoop out as much of the flesh as possible, discarding the skins.

7. Using a potato ricer, or masher, mash the cooked Artichoke into a large bowl until you have achieved the texture of a dry mashed potato.

8. Sieve the flour into the artichoke and mix until it just comes together into a soft dough.

9. Scatter a generous amount of flour onto your work surface before turning out your dough to shape.

10. Divide the dough into four even pieces before delicately rolling into long cigars, about 1.5 cm in diameter. To make the gnocchi, cut the rolls of dough into 2cm segments, repeating until you have shaped all the dough into Gnocchi.

11. Finally, using a fork, lightly dent the tops of each of the Gnocchi, leaving a light prong imprint for texture.

PREPARING THE SAUCE

1. Place a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and place the cubed butter into the pan. Once the butter has melted, add the rosemary sprigs and garlic and then cook the butter gently for 2-3 minutes, until starting to colour and smelling nutty. Add a small squeeze of lemon juice to the butter to prevent it from burning.

2. Empty the butter into a small bowl, to be used to finish the Gnocchi.

3. Return the pan to the heat, adding a splash of olive oil and bringing up to a high heat. You will be using this same pan to crisp the gnocchi in before finishing with the brown butter sauce you have just made.

COOKING THE GNOCCHI

1. Bring a large pan of heavily salted water to the boil before reducing to a simmer. Add the gnocchi into the water and gently stir once to prevent them from sticking together or to the bottom of the pan.

TIP – Cooking the Gnocchi will take only a few minutes and then you want to assemble the dish quickly afterwards. Make sure you have a pan ready to brown the Gnocchi and finish with the brown butter sauce.

2. The Gnocchi will take 2-3 minutes to cook, and will float to the surface once they are ready – meaning you should know exactly when each one is cooked! Remove the gnocchi from the pan using a slotted spoon, and place them onto a plate lined with paper towel – absorbing any leftover water.

3. Quickly Transfer the dryed Gnocchi into the pan you made the Brown-Butter sauce in. They should begin to gently crisp and become golden in the hot pan after about a minute.

4. Turn the Gnocchi over and add back in the Brown-Butter sauce and the spinach. Cook for a further minute or two until the Gnocchi is golden and the spinach is wilted.

5. Serve the Gnocchi immediately with a grating of pecorino, lemon zest, and some crushed toasted hazelnuts.