Buckwheat Gnocchi With Tomato Mushroom Sauce

My grandma Nonna Fernanda always tells me to put only the best ingredients into my recipes. Mutti tomato puree is one of her favorite ingredients and she passed the passion for this product to me . Mutti is a tomato company founded in the 1899 by Marcellino Mutti near Parma (Emilia-Romagna region). Their products are outstanding and include tomato pulp, tomato puree, peeled tomatoes, tomato concentrates and new products as tomato vinegar. For this dish I tossed homemade buckwheat gnocchi with a simple and delicious tomato mushroom sauce. A great first course to enjoy with the whole family.

A special thanks to Mutti  

http://www.mutti-parma.com

Photo by Ale Gambini – BreadLoveAndDreams.com

Servings : 4

Difficulty : easy

Prep Time : 40 min.

Cook Time : 30 min.

INGREDIENTS

For the sauce :

425 ml ( 14.3 oz.) tomato puree

25 gr (0.88 oz.) dried wild mushrooms (porcini and chanterelle)

4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 garlic cloves

3 basil leaves

salt and pepper, to taste

For the gnocchi :

500 gr (1 pound)  potatoes

100 gr (0.8 cup) all-purpose flour

100 gr (0.8 cup) buckwheat flour

1 egg

grated Parmigiano Reggiano, to sprinkle

DIRECTIONS

– Cover the mushrooms with lukewarm water and let soak for 30 minutes or until soft.

– Pour the mushrooms into a strainer over a bowl. Preserve the liquid. Rinse the mushroom under running water, pat dry  and cut them coarsely.

– Sauté garlic in olive oli until golden, then add the mushrooms, sauté for a couple of minutes. Add half of the soaking liquid and cook for 5 minutes.

– Add the tomato puree, the basil, salt and pepper and cook for  25 minutes.

– In the meantime peel, wash then boil the potatoes in a pot of salted water for 20 minutes or until tender.

– Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer over a bowl, add all purpose flour, buckwheat flour, egg and salt.

– Mix all the ingredients together with a fork then knead with your hands until a form dough forms.

– On a floured wooden cut board roll a golf-sized ball of dough into 3/4-inch diameter dowels and cut dowels into 1-inch long pieces and flick off of fork or gnocchi board.

– Drop the gnocchi into a pot of boiling salted water and cook until they raise on top of the water (usually 1 minute).

– Remove the gnocchi quickly with a skimmer, shake off the excess of water and plate the gnocchi.

– Toss with tomato mushroom sauce.

– Serve hot, sprinkled with Parmigiano Reggiano.