Eggplant gnocchi with clams, a seafood first course not just for Thursdays or Fridays, every day is a good day for cooking fish or gnocchi, together they make an extraordinary dish. The last of the season’s eggplants owe their survival to a climate that, until a few days ago, was warm and temperate, let’s say favorable for plants, vegetables, and greens. Even my peppers in the garden keep growing, not to mention the basil. October is pumpkin time, so pumpkin gnocchi is a must, but instead, no eggplant gnocchi, baked with lots of herbs and peeled, of course. But do we throw away the eggplant skins? Absolutely not, we put them in water to lose bitterness and then… tomorrow I’ll tell you what I did with them, on my blog you will find the recipe for eggplant skins.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 50 Minutes
- Portions: 3
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer, Fall
- 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 teaspoon salt
- to taste black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1.1 lbs clams
- 4 cherry tomatoes
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
- Baking Pan
- Parchment Paper
- Chopper
- Small Pot (for cooking boiled potatoes)
- Deep Dish
- Fork
- Pan (for preparing the clam sauce)
- Pot (for cooking the gnocchi)
- Potato Peeler
- Bowl (large glass)
Steps
Use a potato peeler to remove the skin from the eggplants, then don’t throw them away. Slice them into strips and put them in cold water to remove the bitterness.
Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise, make diagonal cuts and season with salt, evo oil, pepper, and oregano. Bake at 392°F (200°C) for 30 minutes.
After the time is up, season the cooked eggplants with fresh basil
transfer them into the chopper.
Chop the eggplants until they become a smooth and homogeneous cream.
Boil the potatoes for 30 minutes.
Peel the potatoes and you can choose to mash them in a potato masher or in a plate with a fork, as I did.
While still hot, they mash well with a fork.
In the glass bowl with the flour, add the mashed potatoes, salt, the eggplant blended
parsley, pepper, and egg.
Mix all the ingredients well and if more flour is needed, add it. It also depends a lot on the eggplants.
Place the mixture on a pastry board and prepare rolls, then use a pasta cutter to form the gnocchi
Lay the gnocchi on a tray and keep them in the refrigerator while you prepare the clam sauce.
Leave the clams in water and salt for a couple of hours while you prepare the gnocchi.
After the time has passed, wash the clams well several times, open them and shell half of them, filter the cooking liquid. Use the same pan and brown a crushed garlic clove with a drizzle of oil, add the parsley and wine, the chopped tomatoes, and the filtered clam cooking liquid, let the ingredients blend for 5 minutes before adding the whole and shelled clams, turn off. Boil the gnocchi in salted water, as soon as they rise to the surface put them in the clam sauce, season and serve hot with fresh chopped parsley.
Here are the eggplant gnocchi with clams ready
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Can I use dried basil in the preparation of the gnocchi mix?
Yes, of course, I always give both fresh and dried options, as you may not always have a fresh basil plant available.
