Instructions

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Wash and dry the potatoes and beets thoroughly. Poke a few holes in the potatoes skin with a fork to release the heat while they’re cooking (or they may burst in your oven – messy!), rub with some olive oil and place on a baking sheet. Place the beets in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt pepper. Shake to coat. Cover. Bake both in the oven for about an hour or until fork tender. Remove from the oven and let cool about 4 minutes or until you can handle them.
3. While those are cooking, mix together 300g of flour, the nutmeg, and some salt and pepper to taste.
4. Now, peel the beets and place in a food processor. Process until pureed. Set aside.
5. Grab an oven mitt and cut the potatoes in half. Scoop out the hot potato into a bowl and discard skins (eat these as you cook - yum!).Smash potatoes with a fork to eliminate lumps. Be gentle and work quickly – you want these little guys to be fluffy and hot, not pulverized and cold.
6. Add the egg yolk to the potatoes and work through, followed by the warm beet puree.
7. Once incorporated, add the flour mixture and gently mix in with your hands.
8. Once it starts to hold together and look more like dough, generously flour your work surface, remove from the bowl, and knead the entire bit for about 3 – 4 minutes. Depending on the moisture content of your beets, you may or may not need to add more flour. You should be able to knead it without it sticking too badly to your fingers, though it will be more moist/sticky than normal gnocchi. Try not to add too much though or you will end up with heavy gnocchi.
9. * To knead, use your palms to push down on the mixture, spreading it on the counter, fold over toward you, and turn 1/4 of a turn. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
10. Once your kneading is done, break off a big handful of the stuff and roll out like a rope on the floured counter to about 3/4″ thick.Slice all the way down the rope into 1 inch pieces.Traditional gnocchi has little grooves in the top. You can do this with a fork but I never bother.
11. Place “pillows” on a floured piece of parchment paper, cover with a towel and set aside until ready to cook.
12. When you’re ready to cook them, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Drop in 10 to 12 gnocchi at a time and let cook for about 2 minutes. They will pop to the top of the water when they are done. Remove with a slotted spoon and place them in a shallow glass bowl or plate until all the gnocchi are done.
13. At this point you can chuck some butter in a pan, melt, brown slightly and add the gnocchi. Coat. Dish up and top with fresh chevre. OR, if you made the braised short ribs, ladle 2 cups of the sauce into a pan, bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce by half and then stir in a tbsp or two of butter. Season if needed and toss with the gnocchi. Dish up and top with fresh Chevre.
14. Eat.