Super Zingy Lemon Gnocchi With Chicken

niallharbison

Ingredients

1 Packet of pre made gnocchi
1 Bunch of parsley
3 Lemons
A Jar of capers
1 Red onion
3 Cloves of garlic
2 Chicken breasts

If you are not a chef or a serious foodie then you’ve probably never contemplated cooking Gnocchi. You used to have to make them by hand but thanks to the wonders of food technology you can buy a decent batch in a bag and cook them up in about 4 minutes. If you haven’t tried them then cook this up because the are fucking delicious with a super soft texture which can best be described as somewhere between pasta and a potato. As always there are just 7 ingredients and the whole thing will take you less than 20 minutes. A perfect dish to cook during the week after a busy day at work. Looks simple, takes fucking awesome and will have your mates or other half well impressed!

Instructions

Step 1

Start by taking all the zest off the lemons. If you don’t have a fancy yoke like mine use a grater.

Step 2

Get as much of the nice yellow stuff as you can. You don’t want the white part of the skin as that is bitter and tastes like shit.

Step 3

Chop the garlic up as thin as you possibly can.

Step 4

Do the same with the onions. Really really fucking small.

Step 5

Half all your lemons and get all the juice out of them in to a glass squeezing ecery last drop but making sure not to have and piths left.

Step 6

Once all the other prep is done you can start with the chicken. Get it out of the fridge and make sure your hands are clean.

Step 7

You want to chop it up in to even sized pieces and make sure they are very similar in size so as they all cook at the same speed.

Step 8

Heat 2 pans up. One for making the sauce and the other one full of water to cook the pasta.

Step 9

Add a good generous amount of olive oil in to the frying pan over a low to medium heat. Don’t be shy with the oil it is part of the sauce.

Step 10

When it comes up in heat a little add in the lemon zest, garlic and onion.

Step 11

You want to cook these really fucking slowly for about 3 minutes. The smells should be off the charts at this stage and you don’t want to see any burning at all. Slowly slowly wins the race.

Step 12

Fuck the chicken in.

Step 13

Stir that around for a good 3 minutes making sure it is starting to cook and getting coated by all the lovely stuff already in there.

Step 14

Lash a good handful of capers in there. They are sour little bastards so go easy if you don’t like sour stuff. No harm lashing in a bit of the juice they come in either.

Step 15

Lash in all the lovely lemon juice.

Step 16

Let that all simmer for about 3 minutes. You’ll lose about half the volume at this stage as the sauce reduces (poncey chef term for thickening up).

Step 17

While all that is happening pick the parsley leaves away from the stalks.

Step 18

Chop the shit out of it to make it as thin as possible.

Step 19

Read the instructions on the packet and cook the Gnocchi for about 3-4 minutes or whatever it says. Depends on the brand. I’m not a fucking mind reader.

Step 20

Just before the gnocchi are cooked grab a ladle of the cooking water and lash it in to your sauce.

Step 21

Strain the gnocchi off and lash them in to the sauce.

Step 22

Lash the parsley in on top and then start mixing the shit out of it and adding a little salt and pepper.

Step 23

It is crucial that all the sauce is nicely spread over the pasta and the whole gnocchi are coated. Don’t be a lazy bastard at this stage. Do it right.

Step 24

Serve it up with a nice big sprinkle of parmesan cheese over the top and some of the delicious sauce poured over it.

It is my favorite pasta dish of all time and you really won’t believe just how good it is. You’ve followed a few simple instructions and if you’ve done it right you could pass off as a proper Italian now.