Potato Gnocchi in Montasio Cheese and Leeks
(Gnocchi di Patate in Salsa di Montasio e Porri)

Homemade potato gnocchi serve with an extra creamy bechamel sauce with Montasio cheese.

Recipe Ingredients:

For the gnocchi:
4 medium potatoes
1 large egg
4 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup grated aged Montasio cheese
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Salt and nutmeg to taste

For the sauce:
1 cup fresh Montasio cheese (2 months old)
1/2 cup grated Montasio cheese (10 months old)
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup bechamel (white) sauce
1 leek, the white part

Cooking Directions:

1. The gnocchi: Boil the potatoes, then peel them and pass them through a vegetable mill. While still warm, mix in the flour, a pinch of salt, the egg, the grated Montasio cheese, until you form a dough. Shape the dough into long rolls about the thickness of a finger. Cut into 1-inch pieces, then press them onto the back of a fork and roll them off delicately. Arrange them on a cotton cloth and dust with flour.
2. Cook the gnocchi in a pot of salted boiling water. As they float, scoop them out with a slotted spoon onto a warmed serving platter.
3. The sauce: Melt the Montasio cheeses together with the cream and the bechamel sauce in a saucepan. Slice the leek julienne style and cook in separate pan with a tablespoon of oil until translucent. Add the leeks to the cheese sauce.
4. Pour the sauce over the gnocchi and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Recipe courtesy of The Italian Trade Commission.