Eggplant gnocchi with clams: a seafood first course not only for Thursday or Friday — any day is good for cooking fish or gnocchi, and together they become an outstanding dish. These are the very last eggplants of the season thanks to weather that until a few days ago was warm and mild, favorable for plants, vegetables and greens. My hot peppers in the garden are still growing, not to mention the basil. October is pumpkin time, so pumpkin gnocchi are a must, but here we have baked eggplant gnocchi with lots of herbs and, of course, peeled. But should we throw away the eggplant skins? Absolutely not: we soak them in water to remove the bitterness and then… I’ll tell you what I did with them tomorrow. On my blog you’ll find the recipe for the eggplant skins.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Moderate
- Preparation time: 50 Minutes
- Cooking time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 3
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer, Autumn
- Energy 693.91 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 103.79 (g) of which sugars 11.20 (g)
- Proteins 31.28 (g)
- Fat 18.40 (g) of which saturated 3.61 (g)of which unsaturated 3.68 (g)
- Fibers 19.60 (g)
- Sodium 1,407.77 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 320 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 eggplants
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 5 oz potatoes
- 1 egg
- 6 leaves basil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1.1 lb clams
- 4 cherry tomatoes
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 3.4 fl oz dry white wine
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
- Baking tray
- Parchment paper
- Food chopper
- Small saucepan (for boiling the potatoes)
- Deep plate
- Fork
- Pan (for preparing the clam sauce)
- Pot (for cooking the gnocchi)
- Peeler
- Bowl (large glass)
Steps
Use a peeler to remove the skin from the eggplants, but don’t throw the peels away: cut them into strips and place them in cold water to remove the bitterness.
Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise, make diagonal cuts, and season them with salt, extra virgin olive oil, pepper and oregano. Place in the oven at 392°F for 30 minutes.
After baking, season the cooked eggplants with fresh basil
and transfer them to the food chopper.
Chop the eggplants until they become a smooth, homogeneous cream.
Boil the potatoes for 30 minutes.
Peel the potatoes and you can choose to press them through a potato ricer or mash them on a plate with a fork, as I did.
Still hot, they mash well with a fork.
In the large glass bowl, with the flour add the mashed potatoes, the salt and the eggplant purée from the chopper
the parsley, the pepper and the egg.
Mix all the ingredients well and, if necessary, add more flour — it depends a lot on the eggplants.
Turn the dough out onto the work surface and form ropes, then cut them with a cutter to shape the gnocchi.
Place the gnocchi on a tray and, while you prepare the clam sauce, keep them in the refrigerator.
Soak the clams in salted water for a couple of hours while you prepare the gnocchi.
After soaking, wash the clams well several times, let them open and shell half of them, and strain the cooking liquid. In the same pan, brown a crushed clove of garlic with a drizzle of oil, add the parsley and the wine, the halved cherry tomatoes and the strained clam cooking liquid. Let the ingredients blend for 5 minutes before adding the whole and shelled clams, then turn off the heat. Boil the gnocchi in salted water; as soon as they float, add them to the clam sauce, season and serve hot with freshly chopped parsley.
Here are the eggplant gnocchi with clams, ready to serve
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Can I use dried basil in the gnocchi mixture?
Yes, of course — I always give both options: fresh and dried. You don’t always have a fresh basil plant to pick from.
