Goat cream cheese gnocchi with beetroot-pistachio crumbs, warm rhubarb jam, chilled vanilla sauce, strawberry and wild strawberry flower

Last week, when cooking the first portion of rhubarb-apple jam there was a few tablespoons left. And I was craving for something made of quark to have as a treat with the piquant jam. Qucikly found the ingredients I needed: goat's cream cheese, egg and some semolina. Grabbed a piping bag and so my gnocchi were cooked. But I had no strawberries so I decided to cook the whole thing again. And yeah, I really made a small portion of jam just for this dessert. After all freshly cooked jam is just so much different then warmed up. Agree? I think it is absolutely unnecessary to add sugar to the gnocchi because the vanilla sauce and the jam are sweet enough. The beetroot-pistacho crumb is just a tiny little bonus and of course the marinated strawberries bring the missing freshness of the dish. It is also a nice play of hot and cold: the warm jam and the chilled vanilla sauce. Go for it! Though you gotta adjust the amount of flour and semolina in the gnocchi base, because goat cream cheese differs from type to type.

Ingredients:
for the gnocchi:
75 g goat cream cheese
75 g quark
1 egg
1 tablespoon flour
1-2 tablespoons semolina

for the vanilla sauce:
250 ml milk
3 egg yolks50g sugar
1 vanilla pod

for the rhubarb jam:
100 g rhubarb
100 g apple
50 g sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

for the crumbs:
1 medium beetroot
3 tablespoons pistachio
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

you'll also need:
strawberries
orange liqueur
wild strawberry flowers or mint leaves

Preheat the oven to 90°C.  Peel and slice beetroot with the help of a mandoline and put the slices onto a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Leave it in the oven for 50-70 minutes until it is dry, let it cool. Toast breadcrumbs in a hot saucepan, set aside to cool. Grind pistachio and dried beetroot and mix it with the breadcrumbs.

For the vanilla sauce bring milk with the vanilla pod and the seeds to the boil. In the meantime whisk egg yolks with sugar, then add hot milk while whisking constantly. Pour it back to the pot and heat it over low heat until it thickens. Chill in ice cold water, then refrigirate for a few hours.

For the jam cut rhubarb and apple in cubes, then bring it to cook with the sugar and vanilla extract. Cook for about 15 minutes, then puree and keep it warm in a bain marie.

Cut strawberries in cubes and marinate with the orange liqueur.

For the gnocchi mix all the ingredients together and put it into a piping bag. Cut down gnocchi with a help of a scissors into simmering water. As soon as they swim on top wait another 30 seconds, then remove onto kitchen paper or towel.

Serve with the crumbs, marinated berries, warm jam and ice cold vanilla sauce.