BBQ aubergine gnocchi with tomatoes, stracciatella cheese and basil

Cook the Aubergine over the BBQ or over open fire. Alternatively, you can bake them at 200 degrees whole for about 30 minutes until they are soft but you will lose the lovely smoky flavour.

Do not worry if the aubergine skins burns, that is what we want. They have to be soft in the middle and cooked through while charcoaled on the outside.

Place the cooked aubergines in a covered container, the steam will loosen up even more their skin.

When cold, carefully remove the burned skin from the aubergine. This step could take time but it will be worth it. I also recommend to wash the aubergine pulp if too many pieces of burnt skin are still attached.

At this stage it is fundamental to drain the pulp for as long as you can, even over night to lose as much water as possible. I recommend to add kitchen paper to pat dry. In worst case scenario, you can also, pan roast the pulp in a non-stick pan with just a drizzle of oil and garlic. This step will surely let the excess water to evaporate and the aubergine pulp will concentrate its flavour.

When the pulp is firm (and cold) get ready to knead. Remember, when making gnocchi, it is always better to use less flour if you can, to better taste the main ingredient but in this case, this mainly depends from your ability to get rid of as much water as you can from the aubergine pulp.

Knead the pulp with the flour, the yolk, the grated cheese, the oregano and a pinch of salt. The dough should very quickly bind together but it won’t be smooth or elastic. Keep in mind, if your dough is too sticky and wet you can still add flour as you knead but do not overwork the dough or it will keep on absorbing more and more flour.

Roll with the palm of your hands pieces of dough on the table to create thick and long strips. This type of dough is quite crumbly so take your time to do this. With a dough scraper or a blunt knife cut the strips into little gnocchi and set them aside well-floured. Be ready to cook straight away or freeze them.

Wash the tomatoes and carve a little cross incision on each of them. Blanch them for about 15 seconds in boiling water then cooled them straight away in ice. This step will help you to peel them very quickly.

Fry the garlic in olive oil then add the chopped tomatoes. Dress with salt and cook for just a couple of minutes. Boil the gnocchi in salted water and when cooked, they will float to the surface. Now toss them straight away into the pan with the chopped tomatoes, add a ladle of pasta water, a drizzle of oil and stir for 30 seconds over medium heat to coat well the gnocchi with the dressing.

Plate straight away, top with the dressed stracciatella cheese (just salt), drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Recipe by Danilo Cortellini

Tips

You can make the gnocchi in advance and freeze them. When needed, boil directly from frozen.