Saffron gnocchi with asparagus and grated Prosciutto are an easy idea to make, they use Italy’s yellow gold (saffron), a seasonal vegetable, and honour one of the most extraordinary products of my home town’s culinary tradition, Prosciutto di Parma.

Gnocchi are a classic that everyone loves, they are perfect in any season and allow us to unleash our creativity by inventing sauces with any ingredient.

Yet, preparing soft potato gnocchi in which you do not taste the flour and which do not dissolve in the cooking water requires a few tricks. First of all, ask your trusted greengrocer for potatoes with firm, non-watery flesh, then remember that it is essential to mash the potatoes while still hot, but never add flour before they have cooled down completely. See here the video on how to prepare gnocchi.

In this recipe, I wanted to share one of my favourite ways of using Prosciutto di Parma in the kitchen, i.e. grated like cheese to flavour the dish and overwhelm us with its aroma released by the heat of the gnocchi. Remember that Prosciutto placed in the freezer will not freeze due to the presence of salt, but this operation will allow us to grate it without overheating it, thus leaving its taste and aroma unaltered.

I am sure that once you have tasted ham in this way, you will be tempted to use it in many other recipes to the infinite joy of you and your guests.

Saffron gnocchi with asparagus and grated Prosciutto

    carbohydrates 21.67g per 100g

Ingredients for the gnocchi

• 1kg boiled and peeled potatoes
• 200g gluten-free pasta flour, brand Molino Dallagiovanna**
• 1 whole eggs
• a pinch of salt
• brown rice flour* for dusting the cutting board

Ingredients for the sauce

• 300g asparagus
• 200g milk
• 50g Prosciutto di Parma in a single slice, kept in the freezer
• 30g grated Parmesan cheese
• 4g potato starch*
• 0.5g saffron
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on  Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

1. Mash the boiled potatoes while they are still hot, leaving the peel in the potato masher. Let them cool completely, then add the flour, the whole egg and a pinch of salt, mixing everything to obtain an even mixture.
2. Take pieces of dough, form them into long cylinders with a diameter of about 2cm, then cut them into small pieces that you will slide over the tines of a fork so that their surface is grooved (this way the gnocchi will hold the sauce better!). Place the ready gnocchi on a tray lightly dusted with rice flour.
3. Start preparing the sauce. Take the asparagus, wash, dry and cut into three parts: remove the woody part which you will throw away (unless you want to make a stock to use for a risotto), keep the middle part to boil and blend to make a cream and set aside the softer part and tips to use in pieces for the gnocchi.
4. Put the asparagus tips in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper and let them soften.
5. Prepare the cold sauce. Put the potato starch in a bowl and dissolve it with the milk, adding it gradually so that no lumps form. Add saffron to the mixture, stirring well with a whisk and set the sauce aside until use, stirring it occasionally if you are not going to use it right away.
6. Take Prosciutto out of the freezer and blend it in a food processor as if it were cheese. Keep it aside.
7. At this point you can assemble the preparation. Cook the gnocchi in salted boiling water; pour the saffron cream into the pan with the asparagus tips and when the gnocchi rise to the surface, drain them with a slotted spoon and toss them into the pan with asparagus and saffron, add the grated Parmesan cheese and allow gnocchi to gain flavour. Pour the gnocchi onto a serving plate and finish by sprinkling them with grated Prosciutto di Parma. If you love gnocchi, enjoy my Ricotta dumplings with radicchio.

Version with gluten of Saffron gnocchi with asparagus and grated prosciutto

Replace Molino Dallagiovanna flour with conventional wheat flour in equal quantities.