Potato Gnocchi Crescents Istrian Recipe

This super delicious Mitteleuropean rustic side dish is made from cooked potatoes, pressed through the potato ricer, mixed with the flour and the beaten egg to form the dough, then small pieces of the dough are shaped into little crescents and shallow fried which makes them light and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, they just melt into your mouth.

They are great eaten with stews or meats cooked in a sauce as they perfectly soak up the juices or the gravy, and they are fantastic served along a selection of cold meats.

These sinfully tasty potato crescents are not made as part of your average everyday meal, but are normally reserved to be made and offered during national festivities, family gatherings, and celebrations.

These potato delights have been very popular in the whole of Slovenia and also in the neighbouring Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and are particularly well known in the city of Trieste and its province. This comes as no surprise as all of these geographical regions were once part of Austro- Hungarian Empire.

What this dish is called in Slovenian reflects this strong gastronomic imperial influence. In Slovenian the dish is referred to as ocvrti krompirjevi svaljki or kifeljčki and in Italian as chifeletti or kipfel di patate, both terms kifeljčki and chifeletti derive from the German/Austrian word Kipfel, meaning crescent shape.

My nona Nada shared with me that when she was a little girl (she is now 96), and when potato crescents were made in the family by her grandmother, a few were always left aside, sprinkled with sugar and given to the children as a sweet treat.

I am sharing here my maternal grandmother recipe, she used to prepare them very often when the family got together, they were always a huge success. They were much more quickly than they could ever be made... try them, and you will see the reason why.

I make them on a regular basis, and this must be one of my top favourite recipes.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 kg floury, yellow fleshed potatoes e.g. King Edward, Maris Piper, red skin potatoes, but avoid new potatoes since these are not suitable for this recipe (choose the potatoes that are more or less the same size).
300g all purpose flour, plus some extra
1 egg, slightly beaten
sea salt
oil for frying

Method

Wash the potatoes, with the skin on, under cold running water.

Place the potatoes, with their skin on, in a pot or in a large saucepan, add plenty of water so the potatoes are completely submerged in the water and bring to boil.

After the water has come to a boil, cook for about 20 minutes or until tender. Cooking time will obviously vary depending on the size of the potatoes you are using. You can check that the potatoes are fully cooked by inserting the toothpick into the potato, it should easily enter the pulp of the potato. Alternatively, you can steam the potatoes or cook them in the microwave oven.

When the potatoes are cooked, drain them in a colander and let them cool enough to handle, then remove the skin.

If the potatoes are still quite warm to handle, the best way to remove the skin is to stick the fork through the potato and peel it using a knife.

Place the flour in a bowl, on a working surface or on a large wooden board, (pasta board if you have one) add sea salt and mix with the fork.

Make a well in the middle and pass the potatoes through a potato ricer.

Allow riced potatoes to cool a bit, just for a few minutes, and then add the beaten egg.

Mix together and form a soft dough, which should not stick to your fingers or the surface. If this is the case add a little flour at a time.

Cut a small piece of the dough and roll it out into a log, about 1-2cm thick.

Cut the log into about 7-8cm long pieces and shape them into crescent or U letter shape.

Sprinkle shaped crescents with a bit of flour and very gently toss them so they do not stick to the surface.

Put the oil in a large frying pan and heat it up to 170C (use the thermometer if you have one, or drop a little cube of bread into the oil, it is ready when it turns golden brown in 15 seconds)

Fry in batches and do not overload the pan with potato crescents.

Place them on the kitchen paper to drain and allow the excess oil to be absorbed.

Sprinkle with some sea salt and serve hot immediately.

Just a thought

Potato crescents are best enjoyed as soon as fried and served hot.

They can be made in advance and reheat it by either placing them in a non stick frying pan and heat them up on both sides for a few minute, again do this in batches.

Alternatively, you can place previously fried potato crescents, in a single layer, on a baking tray or baking sheet and heat them up in the oven for about 30 min on 170C ventilated.

Potato crescents are not suitable for freezing.