Salmon Spoon Meat Over Hand-Rolled Gnocchi

Salmon what?!? you ask. I did, too. But not knowing didn't stop me from placing an order for it when the opportunity came from our CSF (Community-Supported Fishery) Real Good Fish.

So...Salmon. Spoon. Meat. One of my chef friends responded to my post and wrote, "After filleting salmon a spoon is run along the backbone to capture any meat missed by filet knife - great for mousseline, quenelles or dumplings." 

I decided to mix it with caramelized onions, poach it in wine, and spoon it on top of gnocchi. Yep. It was a hit!

Ingredients

Gnocchi

• 2 C whole-milk ricotta
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1-1/4 C flour + more for rolling
• 1 C grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• dash of grated nutmeg
• freshly ground pepper

Salmon Sauce

• 1 pound salmon spoon meat (or just boneless cubes of salmon if you don't have access to spoon meat)
• 1 organic onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 C wine (I used some leftover Chiaretto)
• 1/3 C butter
• 1 C organic heavy cream
• 1/2 C grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• fresh thyme leaves
• freshly ground salt, to taste
• freshly ground pepper, to taste
• fresh parsley for garnish

Procedure

Gnocchi

Stir together ricotta, eggs, cheese, nutmeg, and pepper. Add flour, stirring with a spatula or wooden spoon to form a soft, wet dough. Shape dough on a parchment-lined surface with lightly floured hands.

Roll into 1" ropes and cut crosswise into 1" pieces with a lightly floured knife to form pillow dumplings.

To shape the gnocchi, press a piece of dough onto the tines of a fork. Use your thumb to create a dimple in the top of the gnocchi. Roll the dough down the tines to create gnocchi's signature indentations.

Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once your gnocchi are rolled, make the sauce.

Salmon Sauce

First you need to caramelize your onions. The trick to caramelizing onions: low heat for a long time. Place a tablespoon of olive oil in a flat bottom pan. Add the onions and stir to coat completely with oil. Spread the onions out over the bottom of the pan. Stirring occasionally, the onions will turn from white to clear, then golden and, finally, to a deep caramel brown. It might take 40 to 60 minutes.

When your onions are caramelized, pour in the wine and bring to a simmer. Lay the salmon spoon meat in a single layer and simmer in the wine until cooked through. Remove the cooked salmon and onions from the pan and set aside.

In the same pot, melt your butter in the heavy cream. Stir in the cheese and simmer for 15 minutes until thickened. Stir in the fresh thyme leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper, as needed. Fold half of the cooked salmon and caramelized onions back into the sauce.

To Serve

Cook gnocchi in a few batches in a pasta pot of boiling salted water with a splash of olive oil. Add a few to the pot at a time, stirring occasionally. When they float to the surface, they are finished. Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain in colander.

Add cooked gnocchi to the sauce and stir to coat completely. Place the gnocchi on a serving dish, then spoon the rest of the salmon and onions on top. Garnish with chopped parsley. Serve immediately.

I paired this with a Chiaretto for an upcoming #ItalianFWT event. You'll see those tasting notes soon. Cin cin.