Recipe of the week: Gnocchi: A Boston take on a dumpling delicacy

Sportello, “a sleekly designed Italian lunch counter” in Boston, is the latest venture of visionary chef Barbara Lynch, said Corby Kummer in Saveur. It’s also one of very few American restaurants that in recent years “have profoundly influenced the way we think about food.” Others include pioneers Blue Hills at Stone Barn in upstate New York and French chef Joël Robuchon’s eponymous temple of haute dining in Las Vegas.

A Boston native from a working-class background, Lynch has built a culinary empire comprised of seven restaurants and gourmet shops. She is also a phenomenon famed for “pastas of a delicacy and subtlety of flavor that no Irish girl has any business knowing how to make.”

Recipe of the week

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Truffled Gnocchi With Peas and Chanterelles

Knead the dough as little as possible; if it’s overworked, the gnocchi become gluey and tough.

For the gnocchi:

1 lb russet potatoes (about 2), unpeeled

1-1⁄4 cup flour, plus more for dusting

3⁄4 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp truffle oil

1 egg, beaten

For the sauce:

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

10 oz mushrooms, preferably chanterelles, roughly chopped

2 cups heavy cream

3⁄4 cup peas, fresh or frozen

2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 tbsp finely chopped chives

Make gnocchi: Boil potatoes in 4-quart saucepan of salted water until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain potatoes; let cool slightly; peel. Work potatoes through food mill onto lightly floured surface. Sprinkle flour and salt over potatoes; mix together with hands. Form mound; create well in center; add truffle oil and egg. Gently knead dough until it just comes together, adding a little more flour if it begins to stick.

Lightly flour parchment paper–lined baking sheet; set aside. Using rolling pin, roll dough to 1⁄2-inch thickness. Cut into 1⁄2-inch-wide strips. Roll each strip between hands; work surface to form ropes. Cut each rope into 1-inch segments. Working with one segment at a time, roll it down back of small fork so that tines make ridges on surface of dough. Transfer gnocchi to prepared baking sheet; cover with kitchen towel; refrigerate until ready to cook.

Make sauce: Bring 6-quart pot of salted water to boil. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms to skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until light brown, about 5 minutes. Raise heat to high; add cream, peas, thyme; cook, stirring occasionally, until cream reduces by half. Season mushroom sauce with salt and pepper; remove skillet from heat. Boil gnocchi in salted water until they float, about 2 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer gnocchi to mushroom sauce; add chives; toss to combine. Serves 4.