Homemade Potato Gnocchi

Homemade Potato Gnocchi. Pillowy soft, made with potatoes and flour, these are the gnocchi my mom and grandma taught me to make. Gnocchi are simple to make but require some practice. The main mistake is to keep adding flour, the one responsible for gummy and hard gnocchi. Follow the tutorial and you'll have the perfect texture!

Song of the day: Memories - Maroon 5

If you already love gnocchi, then you're in for a treat. My mom's potato gnocchi have the perfect light texture, not too soft, not too hard, they just melt in your mouth and compliments any type of condiments. We dressed them with a simple tomato sauce, you can choose any sauce you like, white or red.

Potato Gnocchi, a family recipe

What I am sharing with you is a recipe handed down to me by my mother, grandma, and great grandma who I was lucky to have until my teenage years. The women in my family, including my aunt (mom's sister), and my paternal grandma, have always made gnocchi with two ingredients: boiled potatoes and flour. I can't tell you how many gnocchi I helped make, as a child.

Like many Italian recipes, every household claims their recipes to be the best and only one, not to mention the many regional variations. As a result, the main discussion about gnocchi is whether or not to use eggs. When I asked my mom, she was very firm to say "absolutely no eggs".

Homemade Potato Gnocchi - the potatoes

Making potato gnocchi starts with choosing the right potatoes. New potatoes are not the best, since they have more water, and to compensate that, you need to add more flour. In Italy we usually choose red potatoes with a yellow flesh. Often, on the bag, it says "perfect for gnocchi". When in Canada, I have used with succes any yellow flesh potato. I have tried Russet, but they are a little too starchy and dry for my liking.

• Choose potatoes more or less the same size, so they will cook evenly. Do not remove the peel, otherwise, they will absorb too much water. Place the whole unpeeled potatoes in abundant cold water and boil them until they are soft when you prick them with a fork. Drain the potatoes, remove the peel, then pass them through a potato ricer directly onto the work surface. I usually use a wood board when I make any tipe of pasta, pizza, bread, or pastry.

Homemade Potato Gnocchi - the flour

We use 00 flour. You could also mix in some semolina, or experiment with a gluten-free flour, if that's your case.

Practice makes perfect, however, to start, the proportion of flour is approximately 25 to 30% of the weight of the potatoes.

For example, we had 500 g of mashed potatoes and I added 150 grams of 00 flour, plus I always keep some on the side that I add to the ropes before cutting them and shaping them into gnocchi. 

• When the potatoes are mashed, let them cool, then mix with the sifted flour. We do not add salt to the dough but you could add a pinch.  

Making the gnocchi

• Mix very little and quickly, just enough to combine the ingredients (working the dough too much releases the moisture and you are tempted to add more flour!). Form a loaf and keep some flour on the side.
• Cut a slice of the dough at a time, dust some flour on the board and start making a long rope about 1.5 cm round, adding some flour as needed when rolling the "rope". With a knife, cut pieces of dough about 1.5-2 cm.
• When you have little nuggets of dough, it's time to make the gnocchi shape.

Ridges, plain, or dimples?

If you want to make the ridges, you can roll the gnocchi on the classic wooden board (rigagnocchi). Also, you could roll them on the prongs of a fork, or on the smooth back of a grater.  Ridges let the sauce stick better to the gnocchi.

You could also simply cut them and leave plain. Or make them round by shaping them in the palm of your hands.

As you may have noticed, my family likes the "dimple". My mom taught me how to make a slight indentation in the center with my index finger.

• Press the gnocchi lightly in the middle with your index finger going towards you. This movement will make the gnocchi turn upside down and leave the dimple in. Dimples will welcome a puddle of sauce when cooked.

• As they are ready, put the gnocchi on floured trays (we have a big old wood board called "spianatoia"). Make sure they do not overlap and sprinkle a little more flour on the gnocchi.

How to store gnocchi

As a matter of fact, gnocchi must be cooked fairly soon, within an hour or so. That is because the dough quickly becomes moist and mushy if it sits too long.

If you don't have to cook gnocchi immediately, don't leave them waiting but freeze them. First arrange them on a tray and place it in the freezer. Then, once frozen, transfer them to a Ziplock bag. Better freeze single portions, or the desired quantity, to have them ready when needed. When you want to use them, do not thaw. Instead, throw them directly into the boilng salted water and then dress them with your favorite sauce.

Cooking gnocchi

• Have a large pot with plenty of water (and coarse salt if you wish so) on the stovetop on medium heat. As soon as the water is boiling, lower the heat slightly, then immerse the gnocchi delicately so as not to splash hot water on you. With a wooden spoon, move the water gently. Do not turn them during cooking, and wait until they slowly rise to the surface.
• Potato gnocchi are ready when they all rise to the surface and the water is foamy. Turn off the heat, and as my mom suggests, pour in a glass of cold water to stop the cooking time.
• Drain with a skimmer. Avoid dumping them in a colander because they are very delicate and they can easily turn into mush.

• Place the drained gnocchi in a big bowl or serving platter with some sauce at the bottom.

• Then, pour more sauce on top and a generous grating of Parmigiano Reggiano, and stir. My family likes a simple tomato sauce made with finely minced onion, carrot, and celery.

As always, we served our gnocchi in pasta bowls with more sauce and plenty of freshly grated Parmigiano on top. Those dimples were the perfect vehicles for the sauce. 

Note: In Italy, Gnocchi is considered a Primo Piatto (first course) and is served on its own. It is followed by a Secondo Piatto (second course/main) and Contorno (side dish).

Sauces for gnocchi

Gnocchi are great with a variety of different sauces:

• basil tomato sauce;
• ragù alla bolognese;
• arugula pistachio pesto;
• gorgonzola and walnuts;
• vegetable ragù

Buon Appetito!

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