Preparation for Gnocchi with Radicchio and Sausage

• Tips for preparing gnocchi: According to the classic recipe, potatoes must necessarily be white-fleshed, old, without sprouts, and should not be peeled to avoid absorbing water during cooking. If you want to obtain soft gnocchi, work the dough quickly before it cools down and becomes sticky; the more you work the dough, the more flour it absorbs and becomes heavy.
  The amount of flour can vary depending on the humidity; sometimes it absorbs more, sometimes less.
  You can adjust by eye when the dough is well-dried and homogeneous; they should be fairly soft and slightly sticky, just sprinkle a little flour.

• Boil the potatoes with the skin on in a steamer basket so they are not too much in contact with water. If you use a pressure cooker, it makes cooking easier, and they absorb less water.
  With a pressure cooker, calculate 15-18 minutes of cooking after it starts whistling, with a regular pot at least 30 minutes.
  Drain and peel the potatoes while still warm, pass them through a potato ricer and place them in a bowl or on the work surface, whichever is more convenient for you. Let them cool a bit before working them.

• Knead the potatoes with a sufficient amount of flour and salt, working everything quickly, adding more flour little by little until you obtain a soft dough but with the right consistency. Be careful not to work the dough too much to avoid it becoming sticky and absorbing too much flour.
  Make ropes then cut into pieces about 0.8 inches long; if you prefer the ribbed effect, pass them over a wooden utensil or with the back of a fork. In my hurry, I left them simple like this.
  Place the gnocchi on a tray dusted with flour, so they don’t stick together, waiting for cooking.

  Preparation of the seasoning:
  Wash the radicchio and cut it into thin strips, remove the skin from the sausage and crumble it.
  Take a pan, pour some oil, and sauté the chopped onion for 2 minutes, add the crumbled sausage and cook for another 2 minutes, stir and also add the radicchio. Raise the heat and cook everything for a few minutes, pour in the sweet red wine, let it evaporate, then salt, add 3 tablespoons of water and stew slowly for 5 minutes.

  

• In the meantime, bring water to a boil, salt it, and cook the gnocchi in two batches. Do not crowd them all at once in the pot; as they come to the surface, take them with a slotted spoon and add them to the pan with the seasoning, add the second batch of gnocchi, they only need a few minutes, and a few tablespoons of cooking water, stir and mix all the ingredients well.
  Toss everything with a knob of butter and grated Grana cheese, also add some chopped basil or parsley, plate and serve very hot.

• For other gnocchi recipes click here.
  

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