Potato gnocchi with blue crab sauce

Gnocchi

• 700 g starchy potatoes
• 300 g “00” flour
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1 teaspoon salt

Blue crab sauce

• 2 kg blue crab (alive)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• A sprig of fresh parsley
• 1 dl white wine
• 50 g butter
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg (powder)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch of pepper
• ½ dl extra virgin olive oil  

Gnocchi

1. Boil the potatoes in their skins and do not pierce them during cooking. Otherwise, they will absorb too much water.
2. Once cooked, peel and use a potato ricer to mash them while still hot.
3. Add beaten egg, flour and salt and knead the gnocchi. Do not overwork the dough, or you will get dense and heavy gnocchi.
4. Roll out the dough into logs about 2 cm thick and cut them into pieces.
5. To cook the gnocchi, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the gnocchi. Gnocchi cook in a flash, so be ready to scoop them out with a slotted spoon as soon as they float to the surface (usually 2 or 3 minutes).

Blue crab sauce

1. Cook the (whole) crabs in boiling water for approximately 15 minutes.
2. Clean the cooked crabs and remove and save all the white meat. Separate the marrow.  
3. In a large sauté pan, add the extra virgin olive oil and fry the finely chopped garlic. Once the garlic turns light golden brown, add the blue crab meat and drizzle with wine. As soon as the wine evaporates, add the spices and sauté briefly.
4. Add the cooked gnocchi and butter to the sauce and simmer. When serving, sprinkle with a little finely chopped parsley.