Homemade Potato Gnocchi with gorgonzola and walnut sauce

Homemade Potato Gnocchi with gorgonzola and walnut sauce, Gnocchi gorgonzola e noci. Bring an Italian classic to your table. Light and tender homemade potato gnocchi dressed with a delightful white sauce made of Gorgonzola, cream, and Parmigiano. The walnuts give a nice crunch and nuttiness to the whole.

Song of the day: It's Now or Never - Sergio Rosolino

My Inspiration

Indeed, my mom, aunt, and grandma are my inspiration when it comes to making gnocchi by hand. Actually, I owe to them my love for any type of homemade pasta.

Gnocchi were usually made on Thursday in my family, following an old custom that you find in the Roman area (Giovedi' Gnocchi, which means Gnocchi on Thursday). Most of the times, our gnocchi were dressed with a simple tomato sauce, today we are making gnocchi with a deliciously creamy white sauce.

Homemade potato gnocchi

As a matter of fact, you can definitely use store-bought gnocchi for this recipe. However, the lightness and flavor that you will get with homemade ones is unparalleled. Moreover, you will feel extremely proud of the fact that you made them. Let's see how to make potato gnocchi from scratch.

Let's make potato gnocchi from scratch

The ratio for homemade gnocchi is 1 kg potatoes and 300 g flour. You can halve the recipe as I have done here: 500 g potatoes and 150 g flour.

• First of all, you need to boil your potatoes, whole, with the skin on. Start a pot of cold water with the potatoes inside on a medium heat, and boil until fork tender.
• Then, place 1 or 2 potatoes in a potato ricer (schiacciapatate) and press directly on your work surface (for me, the wood board). The strands of potatoes will go straight onto the board and the skin will stay inside the ricer. Discard the skin and continue until all potatoes are riced.
• Next, add your flour on top of the potatoes. No eggs in my gnocchi.

• Knead the potatoes and flour gently until you get a smooth dough. You can add a little bit of flour if it seems too wet, but not too much. Shape the dough into an oval and set aside.
• With a knife, or bench scraper, cut a slice of the dough. Roll it until you get a thin rope, about 2 cm wide.

• Next, with a knife, or bench scraper, cut pieces of dough from the rope, about 2.5/3 cm.
• Now, to make the gnocchi shape, you can use a fork, the gnocchi board "rigagnocchi", or you can simply press down and towards you each "dumpling" with your index finger in order to create a "dimple".

The sauce

Gorgonzola and walnuts is such a great combination. The pungent nature of the cheese and the earthy base of the walnuts, with some cream and Parmigiano, create the perfect sauce for the pillowy texture of the gnocchi.

• Warm up a sauté pan on low heat, break up Gorgonzola and place it in the pan. Stir with a wooden spoon and as Gorgonzola starts to melt, add the half and half cream and stir. When the sauce has become creamy, add the Parmigiano and stir again.Then, add the chopped walnuts and remove from heat.
• Have a pot with plenty of salted water on medium/high heat. Cover with a lid until water starts to boil. Place gnocchi into boiling water and when they all come to the surface (about 6-8 minutes) scoop them up with a strainer and place them delicately into the creamy sauce mixture.
• Coat gnocchi with the sauce, tossing gently.

Time to plate

Gnocchi with gorgonzola and walnut sauce are best eaten right away. Scoop some into a bowl, sprinkle more crumbled walnuts and grated Parmigiano on top and serve. Some freshly cracked black pepper is good, too.

Variations and substitutions

Use store-bought gnocchi to cut the time.

You can substitute Gorgonzola with Cambozola or Taleggio.

You can reduce the amount of Gorgonzola if you want a more mellow flavor and up the amount of cream.

If you do not want to use cream, you can use the pasta water but it will be less creamy.

Omit the walnuts if you want it nut-free.

The delicateness of the gnocchi is highlighted by the richness of the sauce, making it a pleasurable experience for the tastebuds.

Buon Appetito!

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