Potato Gnocchi
It may sound a little crazy to make your own gnocchi, but it’s really worth it. It definitely takes a little time, but the good thing is that you can make a bunch and then freeze it into individual meals so that when you want it, it’s already done!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 lb. russet potatoes (approximately 2 large)
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, powdered
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg (make sure there are no large clumps)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1 cup flour, plus more for dusting
- Robust Red Sauce
- Make it a pink sauce by adding 1/2 cup cream and 1/2 cup powdered parmesan cheese
- This sauce recipe will make enough for 3 recipes worth of gnocchi
HOW TO MAKE IT
- Scrub the potatoes and then rub them with olive oil and kosher salt
- Prick a bunch of holes in the potatoes and bake them at 425°F for about 45 minutes or until very tender
- Let the potatoes cool a bit and then cut them in half, scoop out the flesh and press it through a potato ricer – if you don’t have one of those, grate the potatoes on the large holes of a box grater
- You should now have about 2 cups of mashed potatoes – on your countertop, make a mound of the potatoes with a well in the middle
- Add 3 of the egg yolks to the middle of the well and the salt, pepper, nutmeg and parmesan cheese
- Mix the potatoes into the egg yolks with your hands
- Pour in half of the flour and continue to mix with your hands, using your knuckles to press in the dough
- Fold the dough over itself and press down with your hands
- Slowly sprinkle in the rest of the flour while continuing to press with your hands – add the 4th egg yolk if the mixture seems dry
- The dough should give under pressure but should feel firm and not sticky
- To check if the consistency is correct, take a piece and roll it with your hands on a well-floured board into a rope 1/2 inch diameter – if the dough holds together, it’s ready (if not, add more flour and fold and press a few more times and test it again)
- Cut your ball of dough into 4 pieces – roll each piece out into a rope 1/2 inch diameter on a floured surface
- Cut the rope into 1/2 inch-long pieces – you can either cook these as is or form them into the classic gnocchi shape, here’s how you do that
- As you shape the gnocchi, lightly dust them with flour and line them up on a baking sheet
- Set the gnocchi filled cookie sheet in the fridge for a few minutes so they get a little bit firm
- When you’re ready to cook them, place a small batch of them into salted boiling water (you don’t want to cook too many at ounce because they will stick together if they’re touching while cooking)
- About 2 minutes after the gnocchi has floated to the surface, you can remove them from the water with a slotted spoon
- I just place the cooked gnocchi into a strainer while the rest is cooking
- While the gnocchi is cooking, I make sure to get my sauce well heated
- Once all of your gnocchi is cooked, toss it together with the heated sauce and you’re ready to eat!
- If you’re planning on making a few recipes (which I recommend) just freeze the extra gnocchi in freezer bags – when you want to eat it, just boil the frozen gnocchi in salted water the same way you cooked the fresh ones