Gnocchi di Patate

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When beginning my foray into fresh pasta, I had the most trouble with gnocchi. Its difficult because you want it light and airy so it doesnt turn into a big potato stomach bomb, but you want it worked enough so that it stays together firmly. The keys are to always use a ricer or food mill (throw away your giant potato mashers) and to practice. They also dont keep very well raw, so cook them part way and toss them into a bowl with olive oil until you are ready to finish. There are also other "basic" gnocchis that dont follow this recipe and look/feel very different than what you are used to when you think gnocchi... but thats a different story entirely.

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  • 4

Ingredients

  • Alternative:
  • Scant 2 pounds of starchy potatoes (2 large russets)
  • 1/4 cup egg, lightly beaten
  • scant 1 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour
  • fine grain sea salt
  • ----------------
  • 500 g potato
  • 150 g flour
  • 1 egg
  • pinch sea salt

Preparation

Step 1

Fill a large pot with cold water. Salt the water, then cut potatoes in half and place them in the pot. Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes until tender throughout, this takes roughly 40-50 minutes.

Remove the potatoes from the water one at a time with a slotted spoon. Place each potato piece on a large cutting board and peel it before moving on to the next potato. Also, peel each potato as soon as possible after removing from the water. While hot, put the potatoes through a ricer or food mill.

Let the potatoes cool spread out across the cutting board - ten or fifteen minutes. Long enough that the egg won't cook when it is incorporated into the potatoes. When you are ready, pull the potatoes into a soft mound - add the beaten egg and sprinkle 3/4 cup of the flour across the top. Scrape underneath and fold, scrape and fold until the mixture is a light crumble. Very gently, with a feathery touch knead the dough. Add more flour if too tacky.

Cut it into 8 pieces. Now gently roll each 1/8th of dough into a snake-shaped log, roughly the thickness of your thumb. Use a knife to cut pieces every 3/4-inch. Dust with a bit more flour.

Run each piece along the back of a fork and set aside. Boil in salted water until aggressively floating.

If not using immediately, transfer to a bowl and toss with olive oil to keep from sticking.

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