Recipes with Julie Van Rosendaal: Recreating dishes from Alloy and UNA pizza + wine

We've been dedicating our summer segments on the Calgary Eyeopener to recreating iconic dishes from well-loved restaurants around the city, and this week brought us to Alloy for its amazing mushroom gnocchi and to UNA pizza + wine for its best-selling kale caesar salad.

Alloy has been operating at 220 42nd Ave. S.E. for 15 years, and chef Rogelio Herrera says the gnocchi has been on the menu for almost as long.

It's a soft, tender gnocchi, made in the Parisian style — a dough similar to choux pastry is piped using a piping bag into hot water, then cooled and finished in a skillet with mushrooms, truffle paste and cream.

The result is spectacular and well worth a visit to the restaurant to try — it's on both its lunch and dinner menus — but I gave it a try at home and the results were pretty tasty, too.

• Bookmark cbc.ca/juliesrecipes to keep up with all of Julie Van Rosendaal's dishes.

UNA pizza + wine (616 17th Ave. S.W. and 69 7A St. N.E. in Bridgeland) is well-known for its kale caesar. I've had several requests for the recipe, which was fortunately published in Calgary Cooks, a collection of recipes from Calgary restaurants compiled by Gail Norton and published in 2014.

Parisian-style Mushroom Gnocchi

Inspired by one of Alloy's most popular dishes, this potato-parmesan gnocchi is made in the Parisian style, with a choux pastry dough you pipe into hot water to boil.

Your dough texture will vary depending on the size of your eggs, moisture of your mashed potatoes and how you measure your flour; you should be able to pipe it using a large tip, snipping it off at half-inch intervals, but if it's too runny, incorporate a bit more flour and try using only two eggs next time.

If you like, finish each plate of gnocchi with a drizzle of truffle oil.

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• ½ cup butter
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup mashed potatoes
• ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (plus extra for saucing)
• olive or canola oil, for cooking
• butter, for cooking
• sliced white, brown or cremini mushrooms (or your favourite)
• truffle paste
• whipping cream
• chopped chives or parsley, for garnish

To make the gnocchi, bring the water, butter and salt to a boil in a wide saucepan.

Turn the heat down low and add the flour all at once; stir until it comes together in a smooth ball, cleaning the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and let cool slightly.

Using a spoon, spatula or the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, beat in the mashed potatoes and then the eggs, mixing them in one at a time.

Mix in the parmesan cheese.

Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a ½-inch round tip (or a large, heavy-duty zip-lock bag) and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

When you're ready to cook them, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.

Holding the piping bag upright with the tip over the water, pipe the batter directly into the boiling water, snipping off pieces at about half-inch intervals using scissors.

Cook until the gnocchi float, then add another 30 seconds to a minute, and remove from the water and transfer to a shallow bowl or sheet with a slotted spoon.

Drizzle with oil and let cool, then refrigerate for up to a few days.

To finish, heat a drizzle of oil and dab of butter in a skillet and sauté a few thinly sliced mushrooms per person until they release their moisture and start to get crisp on the edges.

Add as much gnocchi as you'd like to eat to the pan and cook for a minute, shaking the pan until they heat through and start to take on a golden colour.

Add a tiny dab of truffle paste and a pour of cream — a little more than you'd like.

Grate in some parmesan cheese and cook for a minute or two, until it reduces slightly. Taste and add salt, if needed.

Serve immediately, with a sprinkle of chives or parsley.

Makes enough dough for about eight servings, but you don't need to cook it all at once.

UNA pizza + wine's Kale Caesar

This salad began as a garnish and turned into a full-sized salad, and it's been on UNA pizza + wine's best seller list ever since.

This recipe is from Calgary Cooks, compiled by Gail Norton.

Ingredients

Caesar Dressing:

• 1 clove garlic
• 4 anchovy fillets (or a sheet or two of nori and some salt)
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• ½ cup olive oil

Salad:

• 2 tbsp olive oil, plus more, if needed
• 4 thin slices prosciutto, julienned (optional)
• ½ cup panko or fresh bread crumbs
• flaky salt and black pepper
• 1 bunch kale, leaves only, julienned
• 1 cup grated pecorino romano
• 2 soft-boiled eggs, peeled and halved (optional)

Using a fork, crush garlic and anchovies against the inside of a large bowl. Add mustard, lemon juice, zest and olive oil and whisk until well emulsified. Pour the dressing into a glass jar and set aside.

Line a plate with paper towels.

Heat the oil in a medium frying pan, add prosciutto and pan fry until crispy, about five minutes.

Transfer to the paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

Reduce the heat to low.

Add panko crumbs to the pan, adding a little oil if required, and toast until golden, about two minutes.

Scrape the panko into a small bowl, season to taste with salt and set aside. Place kale in a large bowl, pour in the dressing and toss well.

Season with salt and black pepper.

Transfer to a serving bowl and top with pecorino romano, toasted panko and crispy prosciutto.

Serve with the boiled eggs, if desired.

Serves: 4.