Gnocchi

Army of Gnocchi

Total time:  Plan for 4 hours your first time.   Once you’ve figured it out, it should only take you an hour next time.

Perhaps one of the most complex and frustrating things I’ve ever made. It doesn’t look that way, but it felt that way, for the three hours I stood there slicing gnocchi. We ate it in 10 minutes.

* 2 large potatoes or 3 medium potatoes
* approximately 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon of garlic or other seasonings (optional)

Boil the potatoes WHOLE until you can slide a fork into the middle of one without too much force (takes me about 30 minutes for 3 medium potatoes). Drain and cool (about an hour).

Peel off potato skins, discard. Mash and mash and mash the potatoes in a large bowl. If potatoes seem wet, try microwaving them for 3-5 minutes and let them cool for the same amount of time.

In a medium bowl, mix ONE CUP of mashed potatoes with an egg and 1 cup of flour. Knead dough and continue to add up to one more cup of flour until dough feels dry to the touch (but not so dry it crumbles). Do not add more than 2 cups of flour per 1 cup of potato!

Shape small portions of the dough into long “snakes”. On a floured surface, cut snakes into half-inch pieces.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in gnocchi and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until gnocchi have risen to the top; drain and serve.

Some people like to roll the gnocchi pieces down their fork to create cute little ridges. Others just slice them right into the pot. I like to do the ridge test to see if I have enough flour (if the ridges stay up, perfect, if they flatten out, not so perfect). Honestly, at that point, it really depends on how tired or frustrated you are. 😉

I made half the first night with marinara sauce. I placed the remaining gnocchi on a waxed paper cookie sheet in the freezer. Once frozen, I slid them into a ziplock baggy and saved them for another night. The frozen ones took 5-7 minutes to cook and rise to the top.

Gnocchi with spaghetti sauce.

Gnocchi with alfredo sauce.