Potato Gnocchi

So, here’s the deal – I’m now a Pasta lover.

I became a convert when I had good hand made ravioli at a gourmet restaurant a couple of months back.

The uncontrollable need to mimic the chef’s Pasta brought me here. To make my very own Gnocchi!

Gnocchi (read: Ni-yo-kee) are potato dumplings made with potatoes, flour and often eggs or semolina too. They’re much easier to make than a regular Pasta and have an amazing texture. Personally, I couldn’t get enough of it. However, I can’t say the same for my brother (who usually eats everything I cook). So if you’re new to Gnocchi, I suggest you make a small batch. You don’t wanna end up with a large batch of Gnocchi in case you don’t like the taste!

Here’s what you need –

The potatoes have to be cooked really well. They shouldn’t have a bite (al dente) to them. While cooking the potatoes, make sure to leave the skin on so that the potatoes don’t absorb a lot of water. While they’re warm enough to handle, peel the potatoes

If you have a fancy potato ricer, use that. Or you can do what I did – use a fork to mash the potatoes & pass them through a seive. It does take a bit of time to get all the potatoes through the sieve, but trust me – it is all gonna be worth it! 😉 🙂 Or if you’re confident enough of your strength, just mash the potatoes extremely well to make sure there are no grains

On a clean work surface, add a bit of flour, the mashed potatoes and some salt.

Dust some more flour on top of the mashed potatoes

Bring the whole thing together, kneading gently for 4-5 minutes until you have a soft, smooth ball of dough. (You can add more flour if the mixture gets too sticky. But make sure you add just enough to hold the potatoes together. You don’t wanna end up with a higher flour to potatoes ratio)

Gently form a log and cut into 2 (or 3) equal pieces.

Dust some flour if necessary and roll the dough into 1/2 or 3/4 inch thick rope.
 

With a sharp knife or pastry cutter, cut little pillows from the dough.

The size can really be whatever you wish. If you want huge gnocchi, cut larger pieces. But I’d say about 1/2 – 3/4 inch long pieces.

Roll each piece on the back of a fork (or a gnocchi board if you have one).

Here’s a short video that I tried to shoot of the rolling of gnocchi! It isn’t too great, but hopefully you’ll understand what I’m trying to do. I did some talking too but I realized my camera didn’t record audio only after transferring the video to my computer! 😀 I feel like a doofus now! (And NO, you are NOT allowed to make fun of my stout fingers. :P)

Place all the pieces on a sheet lined with kitchen towel and dusted with flour. You can cook them immediately, or let them dry out, place them in zip lock bags & freeze them for cooking them later. I found that letting the gnocchi dry out for 2 hours gave me better results.

When you’re ready to cook, bring a pot of water to a gentle boil & salt it well.

Gently drop in a few pieces of the gnocchi. Do not overcrowd the pan or they’ll end up sticking to each other. Do them in batches.

Lower the heat to medium low and let them cook for 30 seconds – 1 minute.

You’ll know they’re done when they float to the surface of the water.

Drain them out and place in a mixing bowl.

(Meanwhile) Prepare/Buy your favorite Italian Sauce. I made my quick Marinara Sauce.

Add some sauce to the gnocchi & mix well.

Serve hot!

Potato Gnocchi

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★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Kavitha
• Prep Time: 2 hours
• Cook Time: 1 min
• Total Time: 2 hours 1 min
• Yield: 2 1x

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Description

Potato dumplings

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 medium Potatoes
• 3–4 TBsp All purpose flour (*see notes)
• 1 tsp Salt (adjust to taste)

Topping

• Your favorite Italian Sauce, or
• Pesto, or
• Burnt Butter with sauteed garlic

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Instructions

1. The potatoes have to be cooked really well. They shouldn’t have a bite (al dente) to them. While cooking the potatoes, make sure to leave the skin on so that the potatoes don’t absorb a lot of water. While they’re warm enough to handle, peel the potatoes
2. If you have a potato ricer, use that. Or you can do what I did – use a fork to mash the potatoes & pass them through a sieve. It does take a bit of time to get all the potatoes through the sieve. Or if you’re confident enough of your strength, just mash the potatoes extremely well to make sure there are no grains
3. On a clean work surface, add a bit of flour, the mashed potatoes and some salt.
4. Dust some more flour on top of the mashed potatoes
5. Bring the whole thing together, kneading gently for 4-5 minutes until you have a soft, smooth ball of dough. (You can add more flour if the mixture gets too sticky. But make sure you add just enough to hold the potatoes together. You don’t wanna end up with a higher flour to potatoes ratio)
6. Gently form a log and cut into 2 (or 3) equal pieces. Dust some flour if necessary and roll the dough into 1/2 or 3/4 inch thick rope.
7. With a sharp knife or pastry cutter, cut little pillows from the dough. The size can really be whatever you wish. If you want huge gnocchi, cut larger pieces. But I’d say about 1/2 – 3/4 inch long pieces.
8. Roll each piece on the back of a fork (or a gnocchi board if you have one).
9. Place all the pieces on a sheet lined with kitchen towel and dusted with flour. You can cook them immediately, or let them dry out, place them in zip lock bags & freeze them for cooking them later. I found that letting the gnocchi dry out for 2 hours gave me better results.
10. When you’re ready to cook, bring a pot of water to a gentle boil & salt it well.
11. Gently drop in a few pieces of the gnocchi. Do not overcrowd the pan or they’ll end up sticking to each other. Do them in batches.
12. Lower the heat to medium low and let them cook for 30 seconds – 1 minute. You’ll know they’re done when they float to the surface of the water.
13. Drain them out and place in a mixing bowl.
14. (Meanwhile) Prepare/Buy your favorite Italian Sauce. I made my quick Marinara Sauce.
15. Add some sauce to the gnocchi & mix well.
16. Serve hot!

Important Note

1. The amount of flour differs. Its really more of a “feel” and use recipe. So if you find that your potatoes don’t require quite as much flour as mine did, then please use less. The idea is to form a very soft & smooth dough – the star of which should be the potato & not the flour.

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• Category: Pasta
• Cuisine: Italian

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