Altura Pasta Expert Tim Stewart Makes Gnocchi

by Caitlin Collins

"A secret to making good pasta is using the best eggs you can find," says Tim. "That's probably the most important thing."

Five days a week, Tim Stewart comes in to the restaurant early in the morning primarily to make Altura's pasta. There are currently six different pastas between the dinner and tasting menus, each with a different filling and/or accompaniment. One of the mainstays at the restaurant, however, is our gnocchi.

YUKON GOLD POTATO GNOCCHI

Abruzzese Style Ragu of Lamb and Beef, Parmigiano

Gnocchi, a traditional Italian dumpling, is a light fluffy pasta that we make from yukon gold potatoes. It is currently being served with a ragu of lamb and beef that has a slight bit of heat from Calabrian chili oil.

"I treat this like a pastry almost-- you don't want to overwork it," advises Tim. The secret to light and fluffy gnocchi is not using too much flour and not working it too much. Tim chops the dough to incorporate instead of kneading it the whole time, which would stretch and tease the gluten in the flour, making it tough.

Tim cuts egg yolk, flour, butter, parmesan into more flour with a bench scraper.

 The dough is kneaded just until incorporated.

Tim cuts it into six pieces 

It is rolled out into long cylinders

Tim cuts the cylinders into 1" squares

Finally, he slides the squares along a fork for texture.

The gnocchi is now finished and ready to be cooked during service. Come give it a try!