Onions, garlic, celery, and carrots are some basic ingredients that are used in Italian cooking. (Image courtesy of Graham Gordon Ramsay.) In this lesson, you will learn:
How to prepare:
|
Lesson 4
Watch two videos:
Lesson 4, Part 2: Ingredients and Vocabulary
Lesson 4, Part 3: Cooking Instruction
Gli Gnocchi di Patate/Potato Gnocchi
This is adapted from a recipe of my zia (aunt) Mariolina, who emigrated to the USA many years before me. She is now fully American, but remains fully Italian. Grazie zia!
Gli gnocchi (m, plur). Grammar review question: what determinative article would you use for one single gnocco?
Ingredients per 4 person
- One kg Idaho or Russet potatoes (big starchy potatoes), also called patate farinose (literally “floury potatoes”). 1 kg corresponds to 4–5 large patate.
- One uovo (egg) grande (large)
- About 70 g=1/2 tazza (cup) di (of) farina (flour)
- sale (salt)
Directions
- Place the potatoes in a large stockpot. Add water to cover them by a few centimeters (yes, we do not use inches). Bring the water to a boil, add salt (about a couple of teaspoons, but it depends on how much water you use).
- Lower the heat and cook until the potatoes are done (approx. 40 minutes, try poking the potatoes with a fork, when you feel little resistance they are ready).
- Drain the water and when the potatoes are tepid/cold peel them and put them through a ricer or mash them with a fork.
- Beat the egg and add it to the mashed potatoes.
- Slowly add the flour a bit at a time. The amount of flour is dictated by the quality and size of the potatoes. You want to have smooth and elastic dough. Too much flour will lead to hard gnocchi =(.
- Turn the dough on a floured surface, shape it as a long rope, and cut into narrow and long pieces. Roll these pieces with the palms of your hands until they become finger-sized rolls, about the size of ordinary breadsticks (grissini).
- Taglia (cut) the rolls into 1–2 cm lengths. Shake each piece in your hand, as you would dice for “craps”, and cast them on the lightly floured surface. The pieces are now gnocchi waiting for a finishing optional touch.
- OPTIONAL: Press the center of each gnocco with your finger, making a single dent or two or roll each gnocco over the surface of a grater or on the back of a fork so that it’s covered with many tiny indentations.
- Once the gnocchi are rolled and dented, let them rest while you put water to boil.
- When the water boils, add salt (as much you would do with pasta). Once it reaches a second rolling boil, add the gnocchi a few at a time.
- They are cooked as soon as they surface, and should be scooped out with a slotted spoon. Drain well, and put in a warm serving dish. Continue the operation until all are cooked.
- Serve immediately with your favorite sauce, such as tomato sauce and basil, gorgonzola sauce (melt gorgonzola crumbs with milk, at low heat) or just with a few leaves of fresh sage fried in butter and grated parmigiano.
Note: If you made too many gnocchi, you can freeze them before cooking them. Freeze the gnocchi in a Ziploc: place them flat to freeze, so that they do not stick all together. To cook them, throw the frozen gnocchi directly into the boiling salted water without thawing or they will stick together. Their cooking time will be slightly longer than unfrozen.
Lezione Numero Quattro/Lesson Number Four
Watch a video:
Lecture 4, Part 1: Language Instruction
Listening Exercise
Leggi, ascolta e ripeti./ Read, listen, and repeat.
Leggi, ascolta e ripeti (MP3-11.5MB)
Chi & Di Chi/Who, Whom, and Whose
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Chi ha scritto la Divina Commedia? | Who wrote the Divine Comedy? |
| Il poeta Dante Alighieri. | The poet Dante Alighieri. |
| Dante is also called il Sommo Poeta (the supreme poet). He is rightly considered to be one of the/the greatest Italian poets. Ha scritto is the present perfect of the irr. verb scrivere, to write. | |
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Chi è Corrado? | Who is Corrado? |
| Corrado è mio cugino. | Corrado is my cousin. (masculine, singular) |
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Di chi è questa tazza? | Whose mug is this? |
| Questa tazza è dell’Experimental Study Group. | This mug belongs to ESG. (Literally “is of ESG”) |
| Is tazza feminine or masculine? | |
| A chi piace leggere? | Who likes to read? |
Cosa, Che Cosa, Che/What
Note: Cosa literally means “thing” (feminine singular)
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Che cosa/cosa/che mangiamo oggi? | What do we eat today? |
| Oggi mangiamo gli gnocchi. | Today we eat gnocchi. |
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Che cosa/cosa/che fai domani sera? | What are you doing tomorrow night? (Literally “What do you do tomorrow night?”) |
| Dormo. | I sleep. |
|
(Tu) fai is the 2nd person singular indicative present of the verb fare (to do/to make). Notice that when we are talking about some events happening domani we should use the future simple verb tense. However, if you use the present tense nobody will complain, not only because you are making an effort to learn Italian, but also because this is how most Italians speak. |
|
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Che ore sono? | What time is it? (Literally “what hours are they?”) |
| Non (lo) so. | I do not know (it). |
| In this context che is an interrogative adjective: it stands for what kind and it cannot be substituted by che cosa or cosa. | |
Come/How
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Come si dice dog in Italiano? | How do you say dog in Italian? |
| Si dice cane. | |
|
Dice is the 3rd person singular indicative present of the irr. verb dire (to say). Si+3rd person of a verb gives the impersonal construction. |
|
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Come vuole pagare? | How do you want to pay? (Formal) |
| In contanti or con carta di credito | In cash or with a credit card |
| PagARE is a regular verb, while volere is irregular. Vuole is the 3rd person singular indicative present of volere. If you were asking informally, you would use the 2nd person: come vuoi pagare? | |
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Com’è (=come è) Boston? | How is Boston? |
| Boston è una bella città. | Boston is a beautiful city. |
| Boston è bellissima (=molto bella). | Boston is very beautiful. |
Dove/Where
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Dov’è (dove è) la forchetta? | Where is the fork? |
| La forchetta è sulla sedia. (Sulla=su+la (on+the).) | The fork is on the chair. |
| Dov’è (dove è) Michele? | Where is Michael? |
| Michele è a Waltham, sta cantando. | Michael is in Waltham, he is singing. |
| A very common natural error to avoid is to say: Michele è in Waltham. Nooo! Waltham is a town: we use A. | |
Quando/When
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Quando sei arrivato? | When did you arrive? |
| Ieri mattina. | Yesterday morning. |
| Sei arrivato is the present perfect of the verb _arriv_ARE, to arrive. If you were asking a woman, you would say: quando sei arrivata? How would you say if you were asking a group of people? | |
| Quando va a casa? | When do you go home? (Formal) |
| Domani pomeriggio. | Tomorrow afternoon. |
| Va is the 3rd person singular indicative present of the irr. verb andare (to go). If you were asking informally, you would use the 2nd person: quando vai a casa_?_ | |
Perchè/Why, Because
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Perchè hai sonno? | Why are you sleepy? (literally “Why do you have sleep?”) |
| Perchè non dormo abbastanza. | Because I do not sleep enough. |
| Perchè no? | Why not? |
| Studio troppo. | I study too much. |
Compiti/Assignments
Esercizi/Exercises
Use this audio file to complete the first task of the exercises:
Course Info
Instructors
Departments
As Taught In
Spring
2012
Level
Learning Resource Types
theaters
Lecture Videos
assignment
Activity Assignments
Instructor Insights
