Potato gnocchi

Name: Potato gnocchi
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: Red potatoes 2.2 lbs; All-purpose flour 2 ½ cups; Eggs medium 1; Fine salt to taste; Remilled durum wheat semolina to taste; Red potatoes 2.2 lbs; All-purpose flour 2.8 cups; Fine salt 3 tsp; Remilled durum wheat semolina to taste

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Serving: 4
Cost: Very low

PRESENTATION

Potato gnocchi are three ingredients — potatoes, flour, and eggs — and the ratio between them is everything. Too much flour and the dough becomes tough; too little and the gnocchi fall apart in the water. The potato matters too: floury varieties like Russet work best because their lower moisture content means less flour needed to bind the dough, which keeps the texture light. This recipe gives you both versions — with eggs and without — because the difference is worth understanding before you choose.

In central Italy, Thursday is gnocchi day. The tradition goes back centuries, rooted in the Catholic calendar and the rhythms of the weekly market, and it survives because the dish rewards the logic behind it: gnocchi take time to make, Thursday gives you the weekend to recover. They pair with almost any sauce — a simple tomato, a sage and brown butter, a heavy Bolognese — but the dough itself is what determines whether the meal works. Get that right and the rest follows.

INGREDIENTS

Red potatoes 2.2 lbs (1 kg)

All-purpose flour 2 ½ cups (300 g)

Eggs 1 - medium

Fine salt to taste

Remilled durum wheat semolina to taste

For the Eggless Version: Red potatoes 2.2 lbs (1 kg); All-purpose flour 2.8 cups (350 g); Fine salt 3 tsp (15 g); Remilled durum wheat semolina to taste

FOR THE VERSION WITH EGGS

To prepare potato gnocchi, start with the Boiled potatoes: place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with plenty of cold water 1. Once the water is boiling, count about 30-40 minutes, depending on their size; do the fork test, and if the tines go in easily in the middle, then you can drain them. Mash the potatoes while still hot onto the flour that you have sifted on the work surface and arranged in a fountain shape 2; there will be no need to peel them as the skin will remain inside the potato masher. Then add the lightly beaten egg along with a pinch of salt 3.

Knead everything by hand 4 until you get a soft but firm dough 5. Remember that if you work them too much, the gnocchi will become hard during cooking, so limit yourself to kneading the necessary time. Take a part of the dough and roll it out with your fingertips to obtain strips about 3/4 inch thick 6; to do this, help yourself by dusting the work surface with semolina flour from time to time. Meanwhile, cover the remaining dough with a cloth to prevent it from drying out.

Cut the strips into small pieces 7 and, with light pressure from your thumb, drag them over the gnocchi board to get the classic shape 8. If you don't have a gnocchi board, you can use a fork and drag them over the tines; even in this case, use semolina flour to prevent them from sticking. As you prepare the potato gnocchi, place them on a tray with a slightly floured cloth, well spaced apart from each other 9. If you intend to cook them, you can drop a few at a time in boiling salted water; as soon as they float, the potato gnocchi are considered cooked and ready to be drained and seasoned!

FOR THE EGGLESS VERSION

To prepare eggless potato gnocchi, mash the potatoes while still hot on the work surface with the help of a potato masher, add the flour and salt 1 and knead with your hands 2 to obtain a soft but firm mixture 3.

Take a portion of dough at a time and roll it out with your fingertips to form strips about 3/4 inch thick 4. Cut the strips into small pieces 5 and roll each piece of dough over a gnocchi board or the tines of a fork, pressing lightly with your thumb 6. Cook the eggless potato gnocchi in plenty of boiling salted water and drain them as soon as they float.

Storage

Potato gnocchi can be preserved raw by leaving them on the cloth for a couple of hours at most; in this case, cooking will be slightly longer since they will have air-dried.

You can also freeze the gnocchi; in this case, place the tray in the freezer, and after about 20 minutes, put the potato gnocchi in a food bag, and continue this way until they are all frozen. To cook them, just throw them in boiling salted water without thawing them first: be careful to cook a few at a time, or the water temperature will drop, and the gnocchi will dissolve.

Tip

What's the secret to perfect gnocchi? It's all about the potatoes! Red ones are perfect, but mountain or aged ones will do too... the important thing is that they are not new potatoes because they contain too much water. Ideal potatoes, in short, are rich in starch and low in water, requiring less flour to be kneaded.

If you don't have a potato masher, you can peel the potatoes and mash them with a fork!

Here are Other Pairings to Try

If you want to make your potato gnocchi more special, use coloring ingredients such as turmeric for a yellowish color or a bit of tomato paste, as in the recipe for red gnocchi with marjoram pesto and bacon. For a purple version, try the Beet Gnocchi, for a more noir style Squid Ink Gnocchi!

Also try these versions: