Alex Rushmer gets creative with pasta
One of the major barriers to making pasta at home is the lack of a dedicated pasta machine. Rolling pasta by hand is possible but requires a lot of time – and generations of ancestors whose skills you could acquire. With that in mind, I’ve stretched the definition of pasta to make this recipe accessible to anyone without specialist equipment (aside from a potato ricer), who is yearning for something delightfully comforting. I’ve flavoured the gnocchi with nettle tops – easily foraged throughout Cambridge – and then made a sauce from the white and brown meat from a Cromer crab, one of the region’s most prized ingredients, and rightfully so.
To serve four as a starter, or two as a main course
For the gnocchi
3 handfuls of freshly picked nettle tips, washed in cold water
4 medium-sized baking potatoes
1 egg
c.125g tipo 00 flour or strong
white bread flour
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper
¼ nutmeg, finely ground
olive oil
For the crab
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
25g butter
50ml dry vermouth
1 dressed Cromer crab
3tbsp crème fraiche
25g finely grated parmesan
1 small bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
lemon juice, to taste
To finish
25g butter
Step-by-step
Rub the potatoes with olive oil and season generously with salt. Place in a preheated oven and cook for an hour, or until well baked and soft in the middle. Cut the potatoes in half and allow them to steam for 10 minutes.
Add 1tsp olive oil to a large saucepan and tip in the nettle tops, season lightly with salt, several turns of the pepper mill and the nutmeg. Place over a medium heat and wilt the nettles until they look like cooked spinach. Drain in a sieve or colander (press out as much water as possible) and tip them onto a cutting board and chop finely.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add enough salt to make it taste like the sea.
Scoop out the insides of the baked potatoes and squeeze through a potato ricer into a bowl (for a tasty snack, pop the skins back in the oven with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, bake for another 15 minutes and eat immediately). Mix with a wooden spoon for a couple of minutes to release more steam then crack the egg in, add the chopped nettles and mix. Add about half the flour and mix well then turn out onto a floured surface. Sprinkle more flour over the top and start to knead like a bread dough. If the mix is too sticky, add more flour a little at a time until the dough comes together into a workable lump that is dry to the touch. Divide into four then roll each ball into a sausage about 2cm in diameter. Cut into bite-sized chunks and roll into gnocchi shaped pieces then roll each piece over the back of a fork to give the characteristic creases.
Place the gnocchi onto a lightly floured tray then cook in the salted boiling water until they float. Line another tray with a tea towel and spoon the cooked gnocchi onto it. If you’re not eating them straight away, chill immediately and keep in the fridge.
To make the crab sauce, add the butter to a saucepan, melt over a gentle heat then add the shallots. Cook for 10 minutes until they are soft then increase the heat and add the vermouth. Cook for 5 minutes until the alcohol has cooked off and the liquid has reduced by a third then add the crab, crème fraiche and parmesan. Mix well until the cheese has melted then add the parsley and remove from the heat. Check the seasoning, add salt and pepper if necessary, then finish with a squeeze of lemon juice. Keep warm.
To finish, heat a frying or sauté pan over a medium high heat and add the butter. Cook until it begins to foam then add the gnocchi, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. The gnocchi will brown slightly in the butter. Once one side is cooked, turn them over and cook for 2 minutes, taking care not to burn them. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sauce. Spoon into bowls, garnish with grated parmesan and serve immediately.
