Nettle gnocchi on a Affogato di Sabbionara cheese cream and crispy bacon

The ingredients for 4 people are:
For the gnocchi

• 200 gr stale bread
  
• 100 gr fresh nettle tops
  
• 50 gr grated Trentingrana cheese
  
• 3 eggs
  
• 1 glass of milk 
  
• 2 tablespoons of white flour
  
• salt
  

For the sauce

• ½ liter milk
  
• 50 gr white flour
  
• 30 gr butter
  
• 200 gr Affogato di Sabbionara
  
• 200 gr sliced Speck Trentino

Cut the bread into small pieces and put them in a large bowl. Pour in the milk and let stand for about 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, blanch the nettles for 1 minute in lightly salted water, drain and remove excess water by squeezing them.

Let them cool and then chop them with a knife. Combine with the bread and eggs and mix well. After that add the grated Trentingrana, nettles and slowly the white flour, and mix well.

Take the bread softened from the milk and add the chopped nettles, Trentingrana cheese, eggs and white flour. Make small balls with your hands or using two tablespoons. Check the consistency and flavor of the dough: if it is too soft, add some more flour to the dough; if not, moisten with milk.

Preparing the fondue
Melt the butter over low heat, turn off the heat and add the flour a little at a time while stirring well. Aggiungi piano il latte e mescola aiutandoti con una frusta per evitare che si creino grumi. Slowly add the milk and stir with a whisk to prevent lumps from forming. Then add the Sabbionara Affogato cut into small cubes and cook in a bain-marie until the sauce has reached the right consistency.

Preparing Crispy Speck
Cut the Trentino Speck into strips, spread it on the baking sheet covered with baking paper in an oven preheated to 200° C and let it brown for a few minutes. After that you can bake the gnocchi for about 2 minutes from the moment they come to the surface.

Placing
Lay the fondue on the plate on which you plan to place the gnocchi. Add some more fondue and finish by decorating with crispy Speck.

Recipe and image: Quality Trentino