Like I noted in last year's post about my feelings towards fiddlehead ferns, their flavor is nothing all that special. They taste a little like asparagus.
It's their novelty that really attracts me to them. I love how they are baby ferns, but kind of look like little rolled-up green snakes, and I'm not sure whether to coo at them or be revolted by them. So I eat them.
I also love how elusive they are; fiddlehead ferns are only available for about two weeks in any one locale. In Western Canada, that's usually around mid to late May. Shopping at the local farmers' market this past Saturday, I was lucky enough to find some. Only one vendor was selling them (along with some exotic mushrooms and ramps, which were already sold out) and there were only two half-pound bags left. I snapped them up and began to scour the internet for ideas about how to use them this year.
Last year, I made a very simple preparation of boiled fiddlehead ferns and roasted cherry tomatoes in a lemon, anchovy paste, and olive oil dressing. This year, I wanted to do something more elaborate. Inspired by this recipe posting, I decided to boil the ferns, toss them with some oil, garlic, tomatoes, and gnocchi, and arrange the mixture over some celery broth. To do this, I used:
-1/2 lb. fiddlehead ferns
-250 grams mini gnocchi
-3 stalks of celery
-3 roma tomatoes
-2 cloves of garlic
-olive oil
-the zest and juice of one lemon
-grated parmesan cheese
-salt and pepper
I started by bringing a pot of water to boil for the ferns. Apparently some dirty ferns can be toxic so it's important to boil them well before eating. As the water comes to a boil, you can trim the brown ends of the ferns with a knife. I boiled the ferns for about 15 minutes.
I also used the same pot of boiling water to remove the skins from my tomatoes. If you score a small x at one end of the tomato and drop it in boiling water for about 30 seconds, the skins will come off quite easily. I removed the skins from all three tomatoes, and seeded and diced them.
Once the ferns had cooked, I drained them and immediately rinsed them in cold water to keep their green color. Then I made the celery broth. I refilled my pot with about 2 1/2 cups of water and 3 stalks of celery cut in half, or as small as needed to fit in the pot. I boiled these items, covered, for about 20 minutes, or until I could smell the celery in the air. After straining the liquid, I added plenty of salt and pepper (add it to taste) and the juice of half a lemon. It's important to go ahead and taste the broth and season it appropriately. It should be delicately flavored but it definitely needs salt to bring out the celery flavor.
After setting the celery broth aside and covering it to stay warm, I refilled for a third time my pot with water so I could cook the gnocchi. Cooking gnocchi is a no brainer, you just cook it in salted, boiling water until it rises to the top of the cooking liquid.
As the water was coming to a boil, I put about three tablespoons of olive oil in a medium/large skillet, added two chopped garlic cloves, and let the garlic cook a bit. Once it started to brown slightly, I added the chopped tomatoes and the ferns. As the gnocchi became cooked, I removed them from the water with a slotted spoon and added them to the mix. I also seasoned the mixture with plenty of salt.
Finally, I plated the meal by ladling about 3/4 cup of the broth onto a lipped plate (a shallow bowl would be even better, but I didn't have one). I carefully spooned into the broth half the fiddlehead fern and gnocchi mixture and topped it with plenty of parmesan cheese and lemon zest. This will serve 2.
It's a light dish, and I would recommend serving it alone. I ate my gnocchi and ferns with pork, which overwhelmed a bit. The delicate broth, those mild ferns, the pillows of potato gnocchi--these flavors aren't very assertive, they whisper in your ear. I found this a very colorful, understated, and springlike dish.
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