7/8 cup milk or water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 ½ cups Italian organic 00 soft wheat flour and a little more to sprinkle
4 tablespoons room-temperature melted lard (or butter or olive oil)
salt to taste
oil, or the traditional lard, for frying: (about a quart of liquid fat)
Fresh cheeses and sliced cured meats to serve with the gnocchi
Warm the milk until it is lukewarm.
Pour into a large bowl; mix with the yeast and let it rest for 10 minutes, then add in the organic flour, lard or oil, two pinches of salt and knead for 10 minutes.
Form the dough into a loaf, then dust with flour, put it in a bowl and cover with a cloth. Leave it to rest and rise for an hour or so.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of about a quarter inch. Then, using a cutting wheel or sharp knife, cut into diamond shapes. Depending on the size of your work surface, you might need to do this in batches. Set aside one batch then roll and cut another, until the dough is all used up.
Heat the frying fat (lard or oil) is a saucepan, wok, or whatever pan you use for frying. When it is hot enough, a tiny chunk of dough will sizzle immediately and turn golden. You’re ready now to fry them all.
Working with only enough of the dough shapes so as not to crowd the pan, fry the gnocchi, turning them several times. They are ready when they are puffy and golden.
Remove with a slotted spoon, letting the excess fat drip off, then put them to dry on a piece of kitchen paper towel.
Serve the crisp, irresistible Emilian fried gnocchi warm with fresh cheeses and cured sliced meats.
This fried dough, part like a flat dumpling, part like fried bread, is typical of the Emilia-Romagna region. You see it offered everywhere, often served as an appetizer with cheeses, cured meats, even vegetables like cooked spinach (and delicious with ricotta).
The origins of gnocchi fritti are very ancient, dating back to the Lombards who occupied these lands after the fall of the Roman Empire. They had a secret ingredient for making it so succulent, which they were kind enough to pass down through the centuries: lard (though butter or olive oil may also be used).
