Homemade Potato Gnocchi: The Dough and 3 Sauces That Make Them Irresistible

Potato gnocchi depend on one thing above all, the potato itself. Starchy, low-moisture potatoes, like red or aged ones, need less flour to hold together, and less flour means lighter gnocchi. New potatoes hold too much water. Once the dough works, the sauce is a matter of taste, so these four recipes start with the dough and then dress it three different ways.

Potato Gnocchi is the recipe for gnocchi that always come out soft, and it comes in two versions, with eggs and without. Red potatoes boil in their skins for 30 to 40 minutes and are mashed hot onto the flour. The egg version adds one egg and a pinch of salt, while the eggless one uses a little more flour and salt. Either dough is rolled into ropes, cut, and dragged over a gnocchi board or the tines of a fork, dusted with semolina.

Pro tip: knead the dough only as long as you need to. Overworking it makes the gnocchi hard once they’re cooked.

Gnocchi with Tomato and Burrata is a Campania take on gnocchi in tomato sauce. Onion sweats in olive oil, crushed tomatoes simmer uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes, and the gnocchi are tossed in the pan with a ladle of their cooking water. Parmigiano and raw olive oil go in off the heat, and torn burrata and basil finish each plate.

Pro tip: let the burrata sit at room temperature for at least half an hour before serving. The heat of the freshly tossed gnocchi then makes it creamy without cooling the sauce.

Gnocchi with Sausage and Apples flavors the dough with marjoram, then dresses it with a sweet and savory ragout. Chunks of sausage brown with fennel seeds and Fuji apples, and a splash of dark beer cooks down with a little water. The gnocchi are drained straight into the pan, so the sauce clings to each one.

Pro tip: set aside a ladle of the gnocchi cooking water before draining. A little of it loosens the ragout so it coats the gnocchi.

Four-Cheese Gnocchi is the richest of the group. Gorgonzola, Valtellina Casera, fontina, and Emmentaler melt slowly into hot cream for about 20 minutes. The gnocchi cook for just 2 to 5 minutes, until they rise to the surface, and are folded into the sauce with plenty of black pepper.

Pro tip: mix very gently so the gnocchi don’t break. The recipe also suggests a handful of chopped walnuts on top for crunch.

A potato gnocchi is soft and mild, so it takes on whatever it’s tossed with. Tomato and burrata keep it fresh, sausage and apples add a sweet edge, and the four-cheese sauce coats it completely. Make extra dough while you’re at it: raw gnocchi freeze on a tray, then in a bag, and go straight from the freezer into boiling water.