Gnocchi

                       

Gnocchi 

                     

Pronounced (Nyoh-kee) say it as you see it!

These are Italy's most popular pasta, even though as Americans we know them as a dumpling, these are soft, light pillows of combination of the red skinned potato's because of the starch in them. You can use a more firmer white potato. 

My love for these gnocchi come from my Grandma and a memory of My dear Uncle Aldo, Grandma would call up everyone in the clan and he would say  Sunday dinner Gnocchi everyone but Uncle Aldo he would say "mom gonna come Monday" he loved them the next day reheated because they would absorb the sauce he loved them! 
When we would make these gnocchi as a little girl, grandma and mom would make big big batch for Sunday dinners but "dogi" bags where taken home to eat the next day for sure, picture of us around a large basement table and the ladies rolling the dough and grandpa and Aunt Elsa where in charge of the "fork rolling" grandpa was fast! What memories i will cherish them always !

                     

These are a few types of potato rice presses 

available at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond,Walmart 

Gnocchi Wooden Board, on line on Amazon, or a kitchen gadget store 

Recipe

This recipe using 1 potato per person 

4 potatoes same size about 3 “ 

4 cups of flour 

1 egg ( not required if you have allergies, leave out ) 

1 large pot for boiling 

Salt to season water 

Your favorite sugo 

Bring a large pot of water potatoes ( count 1 per person) to a boil.  Cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool using your potato ricer, you will add this to your flour you prepared by making a large well in the center, so it will hold your riced potatoes. 

Combine your riced potato, flour and egg in a large bowl, or on a surface, Knead until dough forms a ball, making sure you add some flour till it’s not sticky and then brush aside any remaining flour. 

Make sure you work on a clean surface and no flour at this point, it will make them easier to roll.

Cut off a small portion of the dough, shape  into a ½ roll , cut your Gnocchi into half-inch pieces, place these on the extra flour so at this point they do get flour and will be easy to roll on your gnocchi board or fork.

Now you are ready to form your gnocchi, by using your board place your thumb on the piece and go downwards on the board and place these on a cookie sheet that you have used semolina and flour so they don’t stick till you are ready to cook them or freeze them . 

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.

Reserve about ½ cup of the gnocchi water, sometimes after you add the sauce you want to use this to make them not stick together.

Then add your favorite sauce, sugo bolognese, plain sugo, salvia and butter, basil pesto, tomato pesto, white besciamella sauce and so many ideas.

The other way would be to use sugo bolognese add ½ and ½ cream, parmigiano add this to a baking dish top with parmigiano and bake for 15 min at 350. 

To your potato ricer drop the peeled potato.

If  you are adding an egg make sure your potato's are lukewarm , add to the riced potato and flour, mix the dough and keep feeling when it is soft pull away your extra flour and knead a few minutes on a lightly floured surface, the more flour it picks the gnocchi will be more dense. 

Roll into a log about 1/2 inch diameter, the second picture shows the different sizes petite, big and medium. The small ones can be left like that and used in gnocchi genovese (a minced ground meat with sugo), the third picture shows the ribbing with the wooden gnocchi press you can get similar lines you can get with a fork