I’m starving. Where’s the menu? Ah, the list of specials, thanks…
Oo! ‘Goat cheese gnocchi pan-fried with pumpkin, hazelnuts, pesto, haloumi, baby spinach and date chutney’. Yes please!
I look it over when the waiter places it in front of me. This is an entree size? It’s a huge pile of salad with warm mix-ins with the haloumi and chutney on the side.
Fork through it carefully. I see trianges of orange pumpkin, leaves of green and purple, pesto everywhere, crushed nuts, and lots of things that look like water chestnuts. Where is my gnocchi?
My sister-in-law gently explains that the water chestnuts are my gnocchi. Well, okay, that would make sense.
Each little gnocchi is round and thick, a flattened ball less than two centimetres across. They look as if a lot of care has gone into their creation, like individually molded stones. The gnocchi are creamy white except for one flat side which has been cooked a crispy golden brown.
Now that I’ve located them I’d better give one a go.
It’s soft in my mouth until my teeth come together on the browned base which requires chewing rather than crunching.
They taste neutral, like regular potato gnocchi. The subtlety plays well with the crunchy hazelnuts and oily pesto. They couldn’t be star of a dish but make a nice foundation for everything else to shine.
Eat several more. The texture is pleasant and I start to like the firm side, but I cannot detect any hint of goat cheese. Not even ricotta.
But put together with the rest of my salad, and despite the over-sweet date chutney (if I think it’s too sweet I can’t imagine a regular person coping), they are delicious.
I don’t know what to think! They are nice but without the creamy zingy tang I was hoping for. Wouldn’t that be the goal of adding goat cheese? What’s the point of adding an exotic ingredient if not to get the flavour from it?
I’m not willing to give up my dreams though. I bet blue cheese gnocchi is out there and delicious!
Rating:
Specifics: Goat cheese gnocchi pan-fried with pumpkin, hazelnuts, pesto, haloumi, baby spinach and date chutney from Grub & Tucker, Newtown
Goat Cheese Gnocchi
I’m starving. Where’s the menu? Ah, the list of specials, thanks…
Oo! ‘Goat cheese gnocchi pan-fried with pumpkin, hazelnuts, pesto, haloumi, baby spinach and date chutney’. Yes please!
I look it over when the waiter places it in front of me. This is an entree size? It’s a huge pile of salad with warm mix-ins with the haloumi and chutney on the side.
Fork through it carefully. I see trianges of orange pumpkin, leaves of green and purple, pesto everywhere, crushed nuts, and lots of things that look like water chestnuts. Where is my gnocchi?
My sister-in-law gently explains that the water chestnuts are my gnocchi. Well, okay, that would make sense.
Each little gnocchi is round and thick, a flattened ball less than two centimetres across. They look as if a lot of care has gone into their creation, like individually molded stones. The gnocchi are creamy white except for one flat side which has been cooked a crispy golden brown.
Now that I’ve located them I’d better give one a go.
It’s soft in my mouth until my teeth come together on the browned base which requires chewing rather than crunching.
They taste neutral, like regular potato gnocchi. The subtlety plays well with the crunchy hazelnuts and oily pesto. They couldn’t be star of a dish but make a nice foundation for everything else to shine.
Eat several more. The texture is pleasant and I start to like the firm side, but I cannot detect any hint of goat cheese. Not even ricotta.
But put together with the rest of my salad, and despite the over-sweet date chutney (if I think it’s too sweet I can’t imagine a regular person coping), they are delicious.
I don’t know what to think! They are nice but without the creamy zingy tang I was hoping for. Wouldn’t that be the goal of adding goat cheese? What’s the point of adding an exotic ingredient if not to get the flavour from it?
I’m not willing to give up my dreams though. I bet blue cheese gnocchi is out there and delicious!
Rating:
Specifics: Goat cheese gnocchi pan-fried with pumpkin, hazelnuts, pesto, haloumi, baby spinach and date chutney from Grub & Tucker, Newtown