Homemade nettle gnocchi recipe:
For the dough:
120 g flour
400 g mashed potatoes
200 g nettles
One large egg
Creamy mushroom sauce recipe:
2 garlic cloves
Fresh thyme
1 tablespoon butter
300 g mushroom (Shiitake/E. sepium)
3 dl heavy cream
Servings: 4 servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Homemade nettle gnocchi recipe:
For the dough:
4.2 oz flour
14.1 oz mashed potatoes
7 oz nettles
One large egg
Creamy mushroom sauce recipe:
2 garlic cloves
Fresh thyme
1 tablespoon butter
10.6 oz mushrooms (Shiitake)
10.2 oz heavy cream
Servings: 4 servings
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Hello my little spring mushrooms! Today we go back into the wild with a simple nettle gnocchi recipe, back to our ancestors cooking pots, releasing our own forest floor free spirit. This new and easy recipe can be widely used in springtime, when natures beauty really slams you in the face. Just like today’s recipe, which is really easy to make. This nettle gnocchi recipe is using mostly things you can find in nature, and it takes just a few minutes to prepare, can’t get any better than that.
Common nettle (Urtica dioica) identification
If you want to pick it up, you need to know what it looks like, it’s a simple rule, something like knowing your first prom date. Now for this nettle gnocchi recipe we need a lot of nettle and, luckily, it grows all-over the world, mostly in humid and not overly warm areas.
Nettle is described as a perennial plant (it lives more than two years, a tough mother#$%&er, literally). Their heart shaped leaves are opposite and have hairs all over their surface (just like the stems). On their edges they have a saw-like pattern. And even the kids know that nettle stings, so do you, but you don’t know the mechanism behind it. The little nettle hairs are actually needles (just as mentioned nettle is a tough mother#$%&er) and when coming in contact with your skin they break and release acid into your skin (thanks nettle, really, you shouldn’t), and that’s when the OUCH effect kicks in!
Edible plant parts
Nettle is edible almost wholly, from the root, stem up to the leaves, but take care of two things! Firstly, their stinging needles, that’s why you should always use hand gloves when dealing with nettle, something like dealing with your dirty husband’s socks! Secondly, the best time for picking nettles in the wild is spring (or until flowering phase) because when nettle begins to flower it accumulates a few chemicals that can be hard for your body to break down.
For cooking we mostly pick the young leaves, on top of the nettle, just by breaking the stem. When dealing with nettle just have this advice in mind and everything will be alright. That’s how you get the best cooking material for your perfect nettle gnocchi recipe.
Entoloma sepium fungi description
Having the nettles for your recipe, it would be a shame not to include one of the best high quality spring mushrooms! Entoloma sepium or the white plum fungi, is found across Europe at spring, but it’s a rare find, and therefore a high-end delicacy! It’s mostly found in deserted orchards under old plum, apple and pear trees.
Entoloma sepium is white, but as Entoloma clypetaum they can be also grey or brown. Their gills are crowded and white when young but get a pink hue when older. The cap is conical and white, while the stem has no stem ring. It’s taste and smell are just out of this world! It has u punchy smell resembling flour and it’s the best base to add punchy spring aromas to your meal. It’s taste and smell are similar to Shiitake fungi, so if you can’t find this rare delicacy, you can go on with some quality Shiitake! Now let’s go on to our nettle gnocchi recipe!
How to make nettle gnocchi?
To work with nettle there’s one simple rule, blanch it first. Just a few minutes in boiling water and then cool it down in cold water, and you’re ready to go! Just press out the excess water from your nettles with your hands and now you preserved all the nutrients from the plant, just as easy as that.
- First grab a medium sized bowl and add the flour, cooked (and mashed potatoes), nettles and one egg.
- Season everything and mix together.
- When you get a soft and delicious dough, cut it into smaller pieces and roll it out on a floured surface.
- Cut you gnocchi into small parts and repeat the process.
You can cook them immediately or store them in the fridge (for a few days) or freeze them (for a longer period). The color of the gnocchi is exceptionally green and the taste is just out of this world. This is really the easiest nettle gnocchi recipe you’ll find, and really delicious too!
Homemade nettle gnocchi with creamy spring mushroom sauce recipe!
Now you have you perfect nettle gnocchi and it would be a shame not to cook them immediately! That’s why we prepared for you a quick and easy perfect pairing recipe! If you don’t find any spring mushrooms nearby, just take common Shiitake, and it will be just as delicious!
- For the recipe first melt the butter and add the finely minced garlic.
- Add the thyme and mushrooms. Leave to cook for a few minutes.
- Add the heavy cream and season everything!
- Cook your homemade nettle gnocchi and mix together.
- Serve with a few drops of olive oil and enjoy!
Wine pairing!
For this gnocchi recipe the primary aromas are nettles and punchy mushrooms! For the first you can go with a Chardonnay from Chile and for the second one, even a deep layered Pinot Noir from Oregon with higher acidity would definitely break the ice! If you have any of it, just call us up if you need some company, we’re all for it!
That’s it my little spring mushrooms! We hope you’ll try out the blessings you get from going back to the wild, enjoying your roots and blessings life gave us, and maybe, just maybe, trying out this gorgeous nettle gnocchi recipe. Now, as always, share it, or don’t, enjoy your day off in the wild, catching up with your nettles, not getting stung by them, a bee or eaten by a grizzly bear. Enjoy the little things in life, like wrestling with a grizzly! See you soon my mushroom!
