Chestnut Gnocchi with Walnut Sauce

I'd never heard of chestnut flour until now.  It is, as the authors described it, bittersweet, and I think also responsible for turning the gnocchi sort of purple.

I started this recipe Wednesday or Thursday morning, peeling and pureeing boiled walnuts.  The peeling was the most cumbersome part of the recipe.  The walnut paste, mixed with garlic, parmesan and a simple bechamel, made a very rich sauce.  I accidentally added too much salt so I tempered it with a little sugar (not in the recipe).  I also dropped some on the floor more than once and the cats have been so interested in that corner of the kitchen today.

The dumpling dough was made from boiled russet potatoes mashed with chestnut flour, regular flour, water and salt, mooshed into little fingertip-sized lumps, then boiled in salted water for four minutes.  Mine might have been a bit soft because I accidentally added too much water.  Yes - the accidents were caused by me halving the recipe and occasionally forgetting.  I do that a lot.

I tried texturing the gnocchi with the tines of a fork, but they lost their shape while cooking.

Gnocchi are exactly the sort of thing I would never make on a voluntary basis, which is why I'm glad I forced myself to try every recipe in this book.  They were delicious.