Seared Gnocchi in a Roquefort Sauce

I found out how to make this recipe in my days working in semi fancy restaurants. I came across this one and never forgot how to make it...they did it up right.

A simple twist on a traditional "boiled gnocchi with red sauce" that you get at an Il Fresco Grana Trattoria on College St. or something. (There's no shortage of Italian resty's there.) This recipe is crispy seared potato dumplings with a sharp Roquefort cheese mixed with cream. Not hard to make at all. Boil some gnocchi, sear'em up, reduce a bit of cream with cheese in it... pretty basic. It's one recipe you'll never forget after enjoying. (One your girlfriend won't forget either!)

Serves: 2

Ingredients

2 cups of fresh gnocchi

3/4 cup or a deck of cards sized piece of Roquefort cheese. What's Roquefort cheese?

500 ml of 18% cream

200 ml of low fat oil

4 tbsp of salted butter

salt and pepper

couple of scallions

Preparation

• Boil your gnocchi in a pot - they'll already be soft, so you basically just have to warm them through. Once the gnocchi is floating in the boiling water, they're done. Remove and pat dry with a paper towel.
• Bring a nice teflon (non-stick) skillet out and pour in a bunch of the oil, enough to generously coat the bottom of the pan, heat it up nicely at medium heat. Ensure the frying pan is hot and add the gnocchi, they should end up like this.
• While they're frying up nicely, heat another skillet and melt some butter and start searing up those scallions. (Add mushrooms and chicken if you're feeling wild. Roast a chicken breast, shred it nicely after it's roasted and sautee some mushrooms - shiitake are my favourite, and then add to the mixture.) Once they're sizzling, pour all the cream in and let it reduce. Medium heat simmering will thicken it up.
• Once the cream is noticeably thick, crumble in a handful of the Roquefort - it's strong so don't overdo it unless you're comfortable with the flavour. It'll melt nicely into the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Take the sauce and ladle some on your plate in the middle nicely - just let it take its natural form, now pile the seared gnocchi's gently in the middle on top of the sauce - that's the trick - and garnish with whatever you want - chives, more scallions, seared mushrooms...You're the chef.