Upon a time, I had a favourite little restaurant. It did decent
coffee and good homely Italian food at a reasonable price. It was the sort of
place where you could eavesdrop on the most interesting of conversations, or
chat to a complete stranger on the table next to you.
Its main attraction was its star waiter, a crazy, red-haired Roman
with a big heart and an eagle eye who kept the place more or less shipshape. He
was deeply and irrevocably a fan of The Blues
Brothers. From time to time, he would get a little carried away, douse the
lights and subject his alarmed (and captive) audience to a rather startling
mime of I Can’t Turn You Loose.
I once spent 8 hours there – breakfast with one friend, a
chance meeting that turned into lunch with another, and then finally dinner with my beloved –
although I did go for a walk in between times to make room for my favourite of
their dishes - Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Gorgonzola.
Unfortunately I’m too embarrassed to go there anymore. The
eagle-eyed Roman was off duty that evening. And I know I shouldn’t have... but rather stupidly... I left my beloved unattended for a whole five minutes. (The Roman would have kept an eye on him...) When I
returned, the restaurant was filled with smoke, and feathery ashes were settling
on the clientele. He had managed to accidentally set his napkin on fire. He had
quickly extinguished the flames, but while he was busy checking if anyone had
actually noticed, he failed to notice
the napkin had reignited and set the tablecloth ablaze.
This is my attempt to recreate the gnocchi dish - Blues Brothers
soundtrack and inferno optional.
For lunch for 2, you will need...
3 tablespoons extra
virgin olive oil
300g ready-prepared
potato gnocchi (a lazy dish, this)
150g fresh mushrooms,
sliced
a fat clove of garlic,
crushed
5 tablespoons cream
40g Gorgonzola cheese
2 tablespoons finely
chopped fresh parsley
freshly ground black pepper
freshly ground black pepper
In a frying
pan large enough to take the gnocchi in one layer, heat 2 tablespoons of the
olive oil over a medium heat. Add the gnocchi and fry gently until a golden crust
forms, turning occasionally.
Meanwhile, place
the remaining olive oil in another pan over a medium heat and add the
mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add the crushed garlic. Cook for a
further minute or so before adding the cream and the Gorgonzola, stirring as
the cheese melts. When the Gorgonzola has completely melted, add the parsley and
the now-golden gnocchi.
Serve immediately
with a little freshly ground black pepper over the top. I find it doesn’t
really need any salt - but maybe keep a fire extinguisher handy :)
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