I am going to bestow bragging rights for all of our November recipe selections on French Fridays with Dorie. We have tackled osso buco, duck and now gnocchi. As with the previous two recipes, I have never made gnocchi before. I knew I needed some background information and help. My son uses Youtube for everything so I searched for quenelle and found many tutorials. I also Googled storzapretis to see if anyone else had made this recipe and low and behold there was. Now armed with information I was ready to tackle this recipe.
Storzapretis are like cheese gnocchi. They include spinach, ricotta cheese, egg, Gruyere cheese, marjoram and flour. They are topped with tomato or marinara sauce and additional Gruyere cheese.
I am not sure how necessary it was to go through the process of quenelle because by the time I dusted them in flour, stored them in the refrigerator over night and gently simmered them in water, they lost most of their shape.
It figures that the only picture I took of the finished product was blurry. My husband loved these, he thought it tasted like lasagna because I used marinara sauce as my topping. I liked them but not sure the amount of work to get the finished product was worth it. I am glad I made it as I usually am with Dorie’s recipes. I am always happy to increase my cooking knowledge by learning new techniques.
These recipes are part of an international cooking group working our way through Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan. To see what others did go here.
CafeMomCooks 
Diane, they look delicious! I wanted to look up the quenelle technique but ran out of time, so I'm glad to know that there's some good videos (and it's not that hard). Yay for new techniques!
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Glad they were a hit at your house! We loved them, too. Hope you have a terrific Thanksgiving!
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Your storzapretis turned out great! The marinara sauce would have been interesting.
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I am glad you liked these. My husband thought they were like lasagna without the lasagna noodles!
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It's definitely been a technique heavy month or two! I can hardly wait until I get a chance to make the duck – my vegan(ish) partner is leery of me doing it at home, so I'm going to go over and make it for my parents, instead.I loved learning to make these little dumplings this week and the flavour was fantastic (actually, the dough smelled fantastic all by itself). Yours look like they turned out beautifully.
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You hit the \”quenelle in the boiling water\”, Diane, about what makes French Fridays so special. (I do realize that idiom does not work well – was going for \”hit the nail on the head\” or \”hit the bullseye\” comparison). I was not a seasoned or experienced cook in many culinary techniques when I joined FFWD and have learned so much and made so many things I would not have ever tackled before becoming a member of FFWD. Whether you ever make this dish again really doesn't matter, you at least know how. Looking at You Tube was a great idea. The only time I have ever watched You Tube was to learn how to set a mousetrap. Michael had always done that and, after he died, it was up to me. After a disaster or two, I clicked onto You Tube and Viola.
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They look great! I had issues all along the way with this recipe including making the quenelles! Yours are perfect!
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There was a part of me that just wanted to take the filling and toss with with some cooked pasta :-)Bravo on a successful November!
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It's amazing what a little research can do. I have been learning so much since Istarted with FFWD, and I am forever looking things up. After 60 years of marriage,I didn't realize I knew so little about cooking. It has all been fun. Your dish looksfantastic, and so delicious. We truly enjoyed every bit, even when leftover. HappyThanksgiving.
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I found making these to be too much work also… I would love to find a pasta shop that makes them. You get a gold star for working on the quenelle technique. It is amazing what FFWD gets us to learn.
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Bragging rights, indeed! It's one of the benefits of this group. Yours look great. I also enjoyed this, but I think it's too much work for me to repeat. Glad your family enjoyed it. Happy Thanksgiving, Diane!
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I tell ya, what did we do before youtube came along. I use it for so many things. Just yesterday my husband was once again checking how to carve a turkey, in preparation for the big day. That said, I thought this recipe sounded difficult enough without the added stress of making quenelles, so I just rolled mine into balls and it seemed to work just fine.
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We’ve had a great month with some adventurous foods! I really enjoyed the storzapretis, but I could not say the same for my hubby! He ate them reluctantly, and was not fond of them! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Diane!
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The minute that it clicked me how to shape the quenelles it became fun but it took me 3/4 of the batch to get there.
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Diane, beautifully prepared storzapetri with a lovely tomato sauce – this seems to have been one of those recipes where we all learned a lot in the process of preparing this dish!I shall take this opportunity to wish you and your entie family a very Happy Thanksgiving!Andrea
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