For many years I tried to make potato gnocchi with no luck but I refused to give up on making these tasty potato dumplings. It wasn’t until my husband’s grandmother gave me this trick that I finally got them to come out right: use baked potatoes not boiled. Wow, what a difference that makes because you don’t have all that extra moisture from the water. So today, I’m sharing a simple recipe for potato gnocchi! P.S. If you love books with lots of food and chefs, check out SOUTH BEACH LOVE, my Hallmark Movie featuring two chefs battling for a possibly life-changing magazine spread while falling in love Even better, it’s specially priced at 99 cents! Grab your copy today at https://amzn.to/3MHno2W.
Ingredients
3 large baked potatoes (Russetts work best)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg (beaten)
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Scoop out the potato insides and place them in a ricer. I found I had to do this a little at a time or it was difficult to get the potatoes through the ricer.
Rice the potatoes into a bowl. If you don’t have a ricer, just mash the potatoes. Normally you’d put the flour on a board, make a well, and add the egg and potato. I dumped the egg and flour into the bowl and worked the dough in there until it held together.
Then I dumped it out onto a slightly floured board and kneaded it for about 3-4 minutes until it was no longer sticky and holding its shape. Don’t add flour if it’s sticky as this will make the gnocchi very heavy. Just work the dough until it comes together.
Cut the dough into 5 or 6 even pieces and then roll out each piece into a rope about as thick as your thumb. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Cut 1-inch pieces from the rope. Gnocchi usually have a distinctive striation that is made with something called a gnocchi board. The board looks like a small cutting board with a handle and striations cut into the wood.
You don’t need anything that fancy. Place a fork tines down and just roll your 1 inch piece across the tines to create the striations.
Place your gnocchi on a lightly floured baking pan. Let them sit for 20-30 minutes before boiling. To cook, place in salted boiling water. The gnocchi are ready when they float to the surface which only takes 1-2 minutes. Yes, that fast!
Serve with your choice of sauce. I made these gnocchi with pesto, but they’re great with any sauce. For a variation, make with sweet potatoes and serve with brown butter sauce and sage for a fall version!
