Not sure if I should post this in the LA Board instead. One of my favorite dishes EVER is the roasted bone marrow spinach gnocchetti at Bestia. I made the mistake of taking my kids there last week and they love it. My 7-year old is now asking for the gnocchetti for his birthday!
I thought, I can’t get a reservation for October, but I can try to make it. The ingredients on the menu are pretty simple: Roasted Marrow Bone. spinach gnocchetti, crispy breadcrumbs, aged balsamic. I also discovered that Garni Meat in Pasadena sells beef marrow bones. And, he will cut it lengthwise if you want. Score!
I found a recipe on the web which was basically: buy pre-made gnocchi, roast marrow bone, toast gnocchi with breadcrumbs and add balsamic vinegar. Seems too simple? What say you? No garlic, no…anything else? I’m going to try it as written (except for the pre-made gnocchi), but if anyone has advice, I’ll be grateful for it! A 7-year old’s happiness depends on this!
How much does your 7 year old like Bestia? Are they willing to miss out on trick or treating? Found a 6pm reservation for 4 people on Halloween. There are also a bunch of random 5pm and 5:30pm weekday reservations in October.
He LOVES it. He even offered to pay for the gnochetti with his own money. But, we’ve got out-of-town family here for Halloween and it’s hard to do anything on a weeknight, what with practices and homework. In any case, I’m hesitant to reveal to him that we can go to Bestia on a weekday night if we just show up at 5 pm. I’ve set up Bestia as a super special occasion place that requires 3 months of planning. The kids are spoiled enough without going to Bestia on a regular basis! So, I thought a good compromise would be making it at home. With his help.
I agree that that is a spectacular dish. We went there for my wife’s birthday and it stood out despite the many other wonderful offerings. After perusing the recipe Cath linked to it looks pretty close. The outstanding flavor was beef. I did not detect any garlic.
Kudos to you for exposing your kids to great food! Our daughter (now 26 in her second year of grad school, and an excellent cook) would regularly request birthday meals that her friends would look askance at. Tuna pasta with capers, cheese grillers (a wonderful German sausage from the long gone and often lamented Atlas sausage company), and anything with avocados in it were some of the requests. However I doff my cap to your son! His taste is exquisite. Do yourself a favor though and don’t take him out for white truffles or Kobe beef.
Our daughters (my “steps”) grew up IN the Bay Area but not in “The City.” I’ve been surprised at how un-adventuresome they are about food. I’m working on the grands
I think it would be a mistake to sub gnocchi for gnocchetti which is a totally different pasta. For me the chewy texture of the gnocchetti is what makes the dish and you’ll be losing that if using gnocchi.
Yeah, I actually thought gnocchi was too soft and pillowy for this dish, too. I’m not sure I want to try making gnocchetti, though. I found this pasta at Trader Joe’s, which I think comes close to the texture of what is at Bestia.
Wow. I literally got a reply from Jessica at Bestia about 5 minutes after I sent the email! Their excellent service extends to emails, too! She confirmed the recipe will be in their cookbook coming out at the end of October. It is currently on pre-order at Amazon. Since my kid’s birthday is Oct. 12, we’ll try out the other recipe first and then work on the real recipe over the holidays. Will report back.
After browning the gnochetti the pan is deglazed with vegetable stock to which parmesan and butter are added. I will scan the recipe and email it to you.
