MINI GNOCCHI DI PANE E FUNGHI SECCHI (Lil'' Gnocchi with bread and dried mushrooms)

A great friend of mine from Venice came to visit me in Florence last summer, she loves to invent dishes and experiment as do I so naturally I want to share one of the offspring of our endevours!

This is a great antipasto in particular if you are serving as a main dish meat.

This antipasto is not a Venetian dish but rather a dish from the northern area of the Region of Veneto (Venice is the capital city of the Region of Veneto in north-eastern Italy),

YOU'LL NEED:
(serves six)

- 1 lb dried bread crumbs (you can make it yourself but store bought is fine)
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk (not skimmed)
- 2 oz (50 g) dried porcini mushrooms
- 2 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 white onion chopped finely
- 1 cup all purpose non-bleached flour
- 6 T unsalted softened butter
- 1 T balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup parmigiano or pecorino cheese, grated
- 1 t salt and 1 t freshly ground black pepper

PREPARATION:

- In a medium sized bowl crack three eggs and whisk.
- Pour your breadcrumbs into the bowl along with the milk and season with salt and pepper.
- While the breadcrumbs are absorbing the liquid, soak your mushrooms in warm water with about a T spoon of balsamic vinegar until soft then drain them and chop them finely.
- Put a good sized saucepan on low heat and warm the olive oil, then add your chopped finely onion for approx. 4 minutes then add the mushrooms and cover to simmer for 10 minutes on low heat.
- When the above are cooled, place them into a deep bowl and add your bread and egg mixture along with about 75% of your flour and mix well manually (hands).
- Ensure that your hands and wooden surface are floured and make small 1/2 - 3/4 inch balls, thus the birth of the gnocchetti and arrange them on the flat floured surface.
- Almost done ! Now we need to bring a medium sized pot of salted and oiled water to boil. Batch the gnocchetti with a large spoon into the boiling water and leave them until they float to the top (shoundnt take more than 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow them to drain before placing them on your platter.
- In a small saucepan, melt your butter and dirzzle of your plated gnocchetti and then a generous dash of parmigiano or pecorino over the top !

ENJOY !!!!