Cheese, Gluten-free, Vegetarian

Buckwheat gnocchi with cheese sauce – Gnocchi di grano saraceno alla bava

Gnocchi alla bava literally means drool gnocchi - no wonder why! This sauce for gnocchi is typical of the Val d'Aosta region (the smallest region in Italy located on the border with Switzerland and France). It is made with the typical cheese of the region: fontina. I made the gnocchi with buckwheat and rice flour for a totally gluten-free version.

Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 hour and 10 min

$7-9 total*

2 people

Ingredients

For the gnocchi:

500 g (17.8 oz) potatoes (about 4 medium potatoes)
140 g (1 cup) buckwheat flour

30 g (1/4 cup) rice flour

1 whole egg

a pinch of salt

For the sauce:

240 ml (1 cup) half and half or heavy cream
70 g (2.7 oz) fontina cheese
30 g (1/2 cup) parmesan cheese

Preparation

Wash the potatoes and put them with skin on in a pot with cold water and coarse salt. Bring the water to a boil and let the potatoes boil for about 20-40 minutes (depending on their dimension). The potatoes are ready when you can easily pierce them with a fork.

Drain the potatoes and press them still hot through a potato ricer. The skin gets removed during this process.

Place the riced potatoes on a working surface and create a well in the middle. Put the buckwheat and rice flour and salt around the well and the egg in the middle (see pictures below).

Knead all the ingredients together to form a ball. This process should be as quick as possible otherwise the gnocchi will get too hard while boiling.

Take a small piece of dough and roll it out with your hands forming a long rope of about 1.5 cm (about 1/2-inch) in diameter, sprinkling with additional buckwheat flour if needed to prevent sticking. Using a sharp knife, cut the rope into 2 cm (about 3/4-inch) pieces. Shape each piece into a small ball and then create the classic “lines” of gnocchi by passing it on a fork. This type of gnocchi is more delicate than the traditional potato ones, so make sure not to press them too much on the fork.

Place the shaped gnocchi on a baking sheet or a kitchen towel with some buckwheat flour. Repeat until you finish the dough.

Cut the fontina into small pieces, rind removed.

In a small saucepan, heat the half and half and add fontina and parmesan cheese. Let the cheese melt at low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add salt, and once the water starts to boil again, pour the gnocchi, stirring gently. They are ready when they begin to float.

Drain them with a slotted spoon and serve them with the cheese sauce and some parmesan cheese.

Tips & notes

If the gnocchi tends to crumble while shaping, roll them in small balls without passing them on a fork.
If you don’t need to do a gluten-free version of the gnocchi, use all-purpose flour instead of rice flour.
Use old potatoes to prepare gnocchi!