Gnocchi à la parisienne
Parisian gnocchi
French choux-pastry dumplings poached and often baked with cheese or béchamel.
About this dish
French choux-pastry dumplings poached and often baked with cheese or béchamel. The recipe here chooses one named variation from that wider tradition; household fillings, shapes and serving styles may differ.
Recipe
Parisienne choux gnocchi gratin
Choux
- 250 ml water
- 60 g butter
- 125 g flour
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 40 g grated Emmental
- 1/4 tsp salt
- pinch of pepper and nutmeg
Béchamel
- 30 g butter
- 30 g flour
- 500 ml milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
Finish
- 50 g grated Emmental
- 1
Choux: 250 ml water; 60 g butter; 125 g flour; plus the remaining ingredients listed for this component. Boil choux water, butter and seasoning. Add flour all at once and stir over low heat 2 minutes until dough pulls from the pan. Cool 5 minutes. Melt butter before flour, stir firmly until dough gathers and leaves a thin pan film; cool so egg will not scramble.
- 2
Beat in eggs gradually, stopping when paste is smooth and pipeable; you may not need the last spoonful. Mix in cheese. Beat egg in small portions; stop at thick, smooth pipeable paste rather than forcing in every drop.
- 3
Pipe 2 cm lengths into gently simmering water, snipping with scissors. Poach in batches 3-4 minutes until set; drain. Make equal short lengths, wet scissors and use a quiet simmer; test a set center before draining.
- 4
Béchamel: 30 g butter; 30 g flour; 500 ml milk; plus the remaining ingredients listed for this component. For béchamel, cook butter and flour 1 minute, whisk in milk and simmer 3-4 minutes. Add sauce salt. Whisk milk into roux gradually, scrape base and simmer until spoon-coating.
- 5
Finish: 50 g grated Emmental. Place gnocchi in a baking dish, cover with sauce and finishing cheese and bake at 200°C/400°F 15-20 minutes until golden. Preheat fully, distribute sauce and cheese evenly and bake to bubbling golden top; cool briefly.
Note
These are choux-paste dumplings, not potato gnocchi. Egg uptake varies with how dry the panade is; use texture rather than forcing in all beaten egg.