“The Italian version of matzoh balls but better” is how acclaimed chef Marc Vetri describes his bread gnocchi in “Mastering Bread,” the newly released cookbook he co-authored with his former head baker Claire Kopp McWilliams.
The dumplings are among a handful of recipes in a chapter titled “Eat: Foods Made with Bread.” Potatoes traditionally form the base for gnocchi, but cubed sourdough that sits in a rich liquid long enough to absorb the milky, eggy, nutmeg-scented goodness is right for the times. Perhaps you’re still in quarantine bread-baking mode or perhaps, also, a crusty baguette or boule is a tradition at your holiday table. This recipe will transform leftover loaves into a filling next-day meal.
Vetri calls for adding bolted soft wheat flour when stirring the cubed sourdough into the creamy liquid. Bolted flour is whole-grain flour with some percentage of the bran sifted out; bakers use it when they want a lighter loaf that still retains the nutritional value found in the germ of the wheat berry. DaySpring Farms in Danielsville is a local source for freshly milled flour while Breadtopia is a terrific online resource for artisanal breadmaking. If you can’t get your hands on bolted wheat flour, don’t sweat it. Use all-purpose flour, 100% whole-wheat flour or a combination of the two.
Plating is flexible, too. You can drizzle the dumplings with browned butter as prescribed below, or as Vetri points out in the headnote, ladle chicken soup on top. “Either way, they warm the heart on a cold day.”
Adapted from “Mastering Bread” by Marc Vetri and Claire Kopp McWilliams, copyright 2020. Published by Ten Speed, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.
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