Potato Gnocchi with Slab Bacon, Crispy Kale, and Grana Padano
You can make the gnocchi in advance by freezing them, uncooked, on a baking sheet; Transfer frozen gnocchi to a freezer bag and cook from frozen.
Ingredients
- 4 russet potatoes
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting work surface
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 heaping teaspoon sea salt plus more to taste
- Olive oil for drizzling
- 4 ounces slab bacon chopped
- ½ sweet onion diced
- 1 bunch curly kale stemmed and chopped
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup grated Grana Padano cheese plus more to garnish
Instructions
- ►Add potatoes to a pot and cover with water by at least 1 inch. Bring to a boil and cook 20 minutes. Remove potatoes from water and cool. Meanwhile, dust a clean work surface with flour.
- ►Peel potatoes and grate flesh. Mound potatoes on prepared clean work surface and add flour, ricotta, egg, and salt. Mix ingredients together using your hands, then knead gently until a smooth dough forms.
- ►Shape dough into a loaf. Cut into 1-inch slices, then roll each slice into a rope. Cut each rope into 1-inch-thick pieces. Dust gnocchi with flour to prevent sticking.
- ►Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drizzle a baking sheet with olive oil. When water is boiling, add gnocchi in batches. Cook until gnocchi floats, then cook 1 additional minute. Transfer cooked gnocchi to prepared baking sheet with a slotted spoon.
- ►Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium heat until rendered and crisp, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon from skillet with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add onion to skillet
- and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add kale to skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook until wilted, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove kale and onions from skillet and set aside. Increase heat to medium-high, add cooked gnocchi to skillet in a single layer, and cook until golden brown on one side, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- ►Return bacon, kale, and onions to skillet and stir. Add Grana Padano and cook until cheese just melts. Taste and season with more salt and/or pepper as necessary. Serve garnished
- with additional grated Grana Padano.
Rebecca Haley-Park
Rebecca Haley-Park is culture's former editor and resident stinky cheese cheerleader. A native New Englander, she holds a BFA in creative writing from University of Maine at Farmington.
