One of you rolls out the dough, the other gently presses a fork onto the gnocchi - or you both do it together and then - oops! - your hands are touching.
Traditional date settings like restaurant, bar or cinema all have their perks, but nothing quite matches the energy, positivity and proximity created by an evening spent cooking together.
Arne Anker, chef and owner of Berlin restaurant Brikz, believes watercress gnocchi is the perfect choice for the first time cooking together, offering plenty of stages that pull a couple close together.
Ingredients:
- 500 g potatoes
- 200 g flour
- 1 egg
- 150 g butter
- 150 ml vegetable stock
- salt
- 20 watercress leaves (or 20 sage leaves)
- rapeseed oil
Making the gnocchi:
- Cook the unpeeled, washed potatoes in a casserole dish with the base covered with coarse salt in the oven at 170 degrees fan for approx. 45-50 minutes.
- Scoop out the inside of the cooked potatoes with a spoon, saving the skin for later use. Press the hot potatoes and mix with a third of the flour. Then add the egg and the rest of the flour. The amount of flour should depend on the consistency of the potato. The dough should be smooth and not stick to your hands.
- On a floured work surface, roll out the dough in portions into a snake (approx. 1 cm in diameter) and cut into approx. 1 cm pieces. Then roll the pieces of potato dough over a fork to create the classic gnocchi pattern.
- 100 g of butter is brought to the boil in a small pan to create a light brown colour with caramel-like notes. Place the remaining 50 g butter in a pan in which the gnocchi will later be fried until colourless. At the same time, put a pan of salted water on the highest heat.
- Briefly fry the potato skins in a pan of hot rapeseed oil, drain on kitchen paper and season with a little salt.
- Wash the watercress leaves (or alternatively the sage leaves), pat dry and then cut into wafer-thin strips (chiffonade).
- Throw the gnocchi into boiling salted water. As soon as they float to the surface, strain them and place them in a pan with butter to brown. Then add the finely chopped watercress or finely chopped sage so that their flavour can develop easily.
- Add the vegetable stock to the melted butter. Watch out if your stock is cold or frozen: When hot fat meets cold, a small explosion can occur.
- Finally, the butter and stock mixture is blended with a hand blender to create a brown butter foam.
Now it's up to the diners to combine the individual components as they wish - just let your creativity run wild. If you find watercress flowers, you can use them as an edible garnish.
