What’s person to do under total “lockdown” conditions for weeks on end? A person learns to cook! Giacomo Marchiori is documenting his family’s recipes on Instagram, and he graciously agreed to let TABLE Magazine translate and publish them for “quarantine chefs” on this side of the Atlantic. Grazie infinite, Giacomo!

Follow him: @giacomocucina

These gnocchi come from Lessinia, a mountainous region of the province of Verona which is rich in excellent milk, butter and cheeses. This simple but delicious dish recalls the flavors of a bygone age. They are called sbatui (which means beaten in the dialect of the region) because the batter is whisked vigorously. 

The ingredients are very simple, like the recipe, but they must be of top quality. If you can find malga butter or Monte Veronese stravecchio cheese, you win this round in the kitchen!

The recipe serves four people.

Ingredients 

2 c       Water (remove 1T from the second cup, because converting from metric measurements is inexact)

2 ½ c   Flour

1/3 c    Parmigiano Grana Padano cheese, grated fine

1/3 c    Monte Veronese Stravecchio cheese (preferably from Lessinia), grated

¾ c      Butter (lightly browned in a saucepan over low heat)  

Instructions (Follow carefully!)

First, Heat a pot of salted water to 160 ° F.  (Note: Americans never put enough salt in their water: it should taste like seatwater.)

Next, sift the flour into a heat-resistant bowl, add 2 cups of the hot, salted water and whisk vigorously until the mixture is smooth.

Transfer the dough onto a flat plate. 

Bring the salted water to a full boil.

With a knife, scrape small, irregular pieces of dough off of the edge of the plate and into the boiling water.  Cook for 15 min.

Once cooked, layer in a heat resistant dish with the grated cheeses and the lightly browned  butter. 

Serve very hot. Eat immediately.

A note about the cheeses:  Grana Padano cheese is aged 9 months. It is made in across northeastern Italy, though the best known version in the US comes from Emilio-Romagna, in the Po River valley.

Stravecchio, which means “extra old,” is aged much longer and comes only from Verona. The aging creates a different flavor profile.  

Don’t miss a single delicious thing:

Subscribe to TABLE Magazine here!