synchronicity.

okay, so currently i feel a bit disingenous; i am writing a post about food while my mother watches the biggest loser and marks papers. i am doing my damnedest to focus on not letting any of the filth on the telly sink in, as i don't care for exploitative pseudo-drama that is basically a thinly masked freak show. i feel that way about a lot of food and body shows on television, i mean, i can't even watch jamie oliver, it just feels like an exercise in self-congratulation for the middle classes. i guess sometimes it's for the best you can't see what goes on behind the scenes here at adventures in pot tossery. speaking of the behind the scenes, you wouldn't know this, dear reader, but ed and i have gotten into a seriously strange synced rhythm in terms of what we cook, and when. it is probably down to the fact that previously we used to talk about food fairly regularly, and now are showing what we make in that much more detail, but what's the point of a collaborative effort if you don't learn and gain from the other person's input, hmm?

so we know i made pesto at the weekend, and was thinking about ways in which i could use it up, when ed suggested gnocchi. it seemed like a good idea, but i didn't want potato gnocchi per se, as i like to get more colour and nutrients into my food wherever i can, so i got to thinking and decided to use up half a squash that was left in the fridge (cooking for one involves a lot of leftovers, especially when you're using january squash that are twice the size of your head). i take nigel slater's advice on keeping squash, i store it unwrapped and cut off a sliver of the exposed flesh when i want to use some. it keeps just fine for well over a week that way. i have had a lot of success with the classic gnocchi recipe from a book called a passion for potatoes by paul gayler, that my dad's wife gave me in my first year of university. it's an odd book, for sure, but it does have the occasional useful recipe in amongst its heavyhanded cheffy 'bet you didn't know you could do this with spuds' approach. i decided, however, to bastardize (sorry, adapt) a recipe for sweet potato gnocchi in this book for my squash effort though, as i find that these orange roots and fruits behave in similar ways. the recipe was originally for baked sweet potato and basil gnocchi, but by the time i'd finished changing things up i ended up with:

fried squash and lemon thyme gnocchi


you will need:
650g squash or pumpkin
1 egg
175g plain flour
100g pecorino (i ran out of veggie parmesan)
75g unsalted butter
3-4 sprigs of lemon thyme (use regular if you like, i grow the lemon kind in my garden)
salt and pepper.

preheat the oven to 200 degrees c/gas mark six. peel and slice the squash and place on a baking tray, tuck the thyme sprigs underneath larger slices to stop them scorching, and roast until tender.

remove the thyme sprigs and strip them. blitz the squash in a food processor or pass through a sieve or potato ricer to obtain a smooth puree. place in a bowl, add all the other ingredients, and mix using a very light hand (which is difficult for me, i am seriously clumsy) to form a fairly firm dough.

shape according to how you're going to cook them, either into classic italian gnocchi for boiling, or if frying just into balls, as they will slacken slightly in the pan thus creating edges to catch in the oil/butter.

these are mine, ready for shaping. i wasn't too fussy about sizes or perfect shape, which is probably going to send ed into an ocd fit, but whatever, i'm laid back about presentation to the point, often, of sheer laziness.

to fry, just melt a knob of butter with some oil to stop it catching in the pan, and fry the gnocchi for like, 5-8 minutes, flipping them halfway through. and you should end up with something like this:

i thinned down the pesto a little bit but it still basically just kind of, dolloped on. these were monumentally good. i have never made boiled gnocchi since i first tried fried; they crisp up beautifully and provide a good contrast to the airy soft interior. i ate these until basically i couldn't move; the lemon thyme helping to lift the sweetness of the squash and sitting happily with the mint notes in my spinach pesto. i like food that i have to get my hands dirty to make; and there is something tremendously comforting about repetitive rolling things into little balls. i stayed, at the beginning of the month, with my friend daniel in portsmouth, and get him to help me out rolling involtini around it's filling. we were talking about how much i enjoy this kind of playing with my food and it turns out he really doesn't. but he'd done it anyway, which made me feel really kind of bad, but then, i've always been fairly good at getting people to test their comfort zones, i think my overenthusiasm for the things i love is what does it. i guess there are benefits to being a bit ditzy after all?

also, has anyone else noticed that all the main dishes i've posted on this blog have been orange and green? it puts me in mind of this post on contemporary cinema, haha. i think i need to shake things up a tiny bit.