(Photo courtesy of Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley)
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This pheasant, kale, and gnocchi soup makes a nice meal during the colder months of the year. It’s creamy, hearty, and full of vegetable goodness. Not to mention, it makes good use of leftover game meat. With every other slurp, pillow-y gnocchi—Italian-style potato dumplings—make this soup irresistible. This is a “to taste” kind of recipe. I like heavy vegetables and little meat in soup, whereas you might like the opposite—add or subtract ingredients to your liking.
(Photo courtesy of Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley) Although store-bought gnocchi (either frozen or dried) will save you time, there’s nothing quite like the delicate, tenderness of homemade gnocchi. I’ve included my recipe if you’d like to try making this potato dumpling for yourself. The recipe will make more than you need—because if you’re going to go through with it, you might as well make a proper go of it.
Thankfully, gnocchi freezes well. Lay uncooked gnocchi in one layer, not touching, on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and place in a freezer. Then transfer the frozen gnocchi into a zip-top bag and keep frozen until ready to use. Cook frozen gnocchi the same way you would fresh: directly from frozen right into boiling, salted water. They might take an extra minute or two to cook.
If you don’t have leftover cooked pheasant (or other light-meat game birds), my preferred method is gently poaching the breasts in water just up to the point when they’re barely cooked through. To poach the breasts, place them in a saucepan with enough water to submerge. Turn on heat and simmer gently until the thickest part of the breast reads 145°F, about 7-10 minutes. Immediately remove the pheasant, sprinkle salt on the meat and set aside to cool. Otherwise, you can cook the pheasant to your liking (sear, roast, bake, etc.).
(Photo courtesy of Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley)
Pheasant, Kale, and Gnocchi Soup Serves: 4 Prep Time: 2 hours Cooking Time: 1 hour
Ingredients: 6 ounces of cooked pheasant breasts 1⁄2 a large onion, chopped 3⁄4 cup of diced celery 2 medium carrots, peeled & shredded 1 tablespoon of butter 4 cups of chicken stock or light game stock 2 cups of roughly chopped kale leaves 2 cups of half and half 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 sprigs of fresh thyme 3 cloves of garlic, minced Salt & pepper, to taste Gnocchi Ingredients: 2 1⁄4 pounds russet potatos 1 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 1⁄4-1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra 1 egg Directions: Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit. Wrap potatoes in foil and bake on the middle rack until tender, which could take up to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Next, while potatoes are still hot, cut potatoes in half lengthwise, scoop out flesh and pass through a ricer (fine plate) or food mill into a large bowl; discard the skin. Allow riced potato to sit on the counter uncovered to cool and release steam. Make a well in the middle of the cooled potato. Add egg and beat lightly, then incorporate the egg into the potato. Once incoperated, knead in salt and just enough flour to get a dough that’s soft but not sticky—similar to the consistency of Play-Doh. The wetter the potato, the more flour you will need. Dust your work surface with flour and turn out dough. Form into a ball and divide into fourths (or eighths) with a dough cutter. Roll each piece into a rope that’s a bit thicker than your thumb, and then cut into small pillow shapes. Set uncooked gnocchi, not touching, on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and keep covered with a tea towel to prevent drying. You can stack sheets of gnocchi on the same cookie sheet to save space. In a medium soup pot, sweat oil, butter, onion, celery, carrot and a pinch of salt over medium heat, stirring frequently. When onion becomes translucent, add thyme and garlic and sauté for 30 seconds. Add chicken stock and kale, and then cover the pot and simmer on low for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Drop in about 8 ounces (or more) of gnocchi, one by one to avoid sticking, and cook for 3-5 minutes or until gnocchi are cooked through, stirring occasionally; gnocchi will float when cooked. Transfer cooked gnocchi to the soup pot. Cut cooked pheasant into bite-size pieces. Stir in the half and half and add the pheasant, then heat through. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat.
