SC - Homemade period noodles/pasta
lilinah at earthlink.net
lilinah at earthlink.net
Wed Jan 17 12:19:50 PST 2001
>I'd have to check which reference it came from, but I
>also have a great recipe for period gnocci. Instead
>of potatos, they are based on flour and cheese. In
>camp, we sit around the pot of boiling water with our
>spoons and drop the dough in to the pot. As they
>rise, we fish them out, sprikle a little hard cheese
>and have at! I'll check for the reference if anyone
>wants.
>
>M. Elenore Armstrong
OK, here's the recipe...
The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy
Odile Redon, Francoise Sabban & Silvano Serventi
translated by Edward Schneider
Chapter: Soups and Pasta: Potages
Recipe 9. Cheese Gnocchi
p. 63-64
If you want some gnocchi, take some fresh cheese and mash it, then
take some flour and mix with egg yolks as in the making migliacci.
Put a pot full of water on the fire and, when it begins to boil, put
the mixture on a dish and drop it into the pot with a ladle. And when
they are cooked, place them on dishes and sprinkle with plenty of
grated cheese. (from Grammento di un libro di cucina del sec. XIV)
Modern Recipe
12 servings
1-1/4 lb. cream cheese (600 g.)
1-1/2 cups flour (200 g.)
6 egg yolks
6 to 8 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
salt
Mash the cream cheese into a creamy paste; if it is too stiff, force
it through a sieve. With your hand, mix in the flour. Add salt to
taste and blend in the egg yolks, one by one. Continue kneading to
form a smooth mixture, neither too firm nor too soft.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and lower the heat to a
simmer. Put the cheese mixture on a plate and drop half-teaspoonfuls
of the mixture into the simmering water. It is quicker for two people
to do this simultaneously.
Cook for a few minutes, until the gnocchi rise to the surface of the
water. Drain and turn into a heated serving dish. Sprinkle generously
with grated parmesan and serve immediately.
- ---------------
My Comments
i seriously doubt the original used "cream cheese". The women's
magazine version used cottage cheese and i have used ricotta. I
suspect Farmer Cheese or Pot Cheese might also work, but they're a
bit dry and might need moistening with some cream. I had some Queso
de Burgos in Spain, a kind of spongey fresh white cheese rather like
uncut curds, and it sure seemed like it would be suitable. The French
"Fromage Frais" is rather like sour cream and, i think, unsuitable.
So you have to weight the virtues of various "fresh cheeses". Maybe a
Mexican Queso Fresco would also work...
Anahita al-shazhiyya
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