Tiny Dumplings With Dill Food

TEENY TINY BUTTER DUMPLINGS FOR ONE

Steps:

• 1. Cream butter and egg. Add salt, baking powder and flour.
• 2. Bring soup or broth to a boil.
• 3. Drop dough from teaspoon into boiling mixture, cover, and simmer for 8 minutes. *If the steam hurts your hands, this is an alternative way to drop in the dough: Put the mixture into a zip-lock plastic bag. Snip off a corner. Keep a cup of cold water next to you to wet you fingers, and squeeze out the dough through corner of bag, snipping off dough with your fingers. Wet finger tips as needed. This way your hands can be held to the side of pot, rather than directly above the steam.

TINY DUMPLINGS WITH DILL

Steps:

• Bring a 6-quart pot of salted water (2 teaspoon salt for 5 qt water) to a simmer.
• Meanwhile, whisk together flour, dill, 2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.
• Whisk together eggs and water in a bowl, then add to flour mixture and whisk until batter is smooth.
• Working over barely simmering water, force batter through spaetzlemaker (or through colander with a rubber spatula) into water and cook, stirring occasionally, until dumplings have risen to surface and are firm, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Drain dumplings in a colander, then return to warm pot. Toss with butter and salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

TINY POTATO DUMPLINGS WITH TOMATO, ONION, AND GUANCIALE SAUCE (GNOCCHETTI ALL' AMATRICIANA)

Steps:

• Make sauce:
• Heat oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté guanciale and onion, stirring, until onion is golden, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and sauté, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes with reserved juice, water, sugar, and salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes.
• Make gnocchetti:
• Cover potatoes with salted cold water by 2 inches in a large pot, then simmer, uncovered, until very tender, about 25 minutes. Drain in a colander and, when cool enough to handle, peel.
• Force warm potatoes through ricer into a large bowl. Add flour and salt and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture begins to come together. Gently form dough into a ball and cut in half.
• Knead each dough half on a floured surface until smooth, about 1 minute (if dough sticks to surface, dust lightly with additional flour). Cut each half evenly into 10 pieces. Roll 1 piece into a 14-inch-long rope (1/2 inch thick), keeping remaining pieces covered with a kitchen towel. Cut rope crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces and toss pieces lightly with flour on work surface.
• Press a piece of dough against tines of a floured fork and push with a floured thumb in a forward rolling motion toward end of tines, letting gnocchetti fall from fork into a well-floured shallow baking pan. Make more gnocchetti in same manner.
• Just before cooking, gently shake gnocchetti in 4 batches in a large medium-mesh sieve to knock off excess flour. Cook gnocchetti in 4 batches in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling salted water until they float, about 1 minute. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large shallow bowl as cooked and spoon some sauce on top.