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I am old-fashioned and look forward to weekends wrists deep in homemade gnocchi dough and the look on my daughters’ faces. The joy they have at being involved in what they deem to be ‘grown up’ stuff, or whatever reasons why they get so hyped.
I will not lie to you. There is no perfect gnocchi recipe in my opinion. Here’s why? The moisture content in the potato will vary, before and after boiling/baking. Which may result in a different amount of flour used in a recipe.
This is why over time, it is best to learn to use your hands as a guide to know when enough flour has been used in a recipe. That’s also the reason why I suggest using 3/4 of the flour recommended in the recipe and slowly incorporating the rest.
How to Make Gnocchi – Homemade Gnocchi Tips
Potatoes: The best potatoes for gnocchi are floury and do not have a lot of moisture. Use Désirée potatoes, or if you’re in America, the russet potato is advised. Make sure your potatoes are almost the same size so that they cook for the same amount of time.
Kneading: You need not go overboard, this is not bread or pizza dough. So knead (no more than 3-5 minutes) only until it comes together, and is soft but not sticky. And when you cut through it you will see little pockets as below which will help in making the gnocchi light.
Flour: This will ‘make or break’ your gnocchi. Too much and the gnocchi will be chewy with a rubbery consistency. Too little and the gnocchi will not come together and will fall apart when boiled. So start with 3/4 of the recommended flour and once it’s all mixed in, slowly incorporate more (bit by bit). Use plain flour (00), not bread flour.
Flavorings: You can add a dash of salt to the flour before you knead it into the potatoes
How to Make Gnocchi Dough
Making gnocchi is a simple 5-step process that will take no more than 1 hour from start to finish. Here’s how to go about it.
Step 1- Boil: After choosing the right potatoes of almost the same sizes (for even-time cooking), boil them (add in the potatoes ONLY once the water is already boiling) making sure they are all submerged in the water. This will take about 30 minutes, more or less.
Step 2- Bake: Once the potatoes are cooked through, take them out and put them on a baking tray lined with foil to bake in the middle of the oven at 200°C/392°F for 10 minutes. This reduces the moisture level in them.
Step 3- Mix: Make a well in the flour (using 3/4 of the measured flour first). Peel the potatoes while hot and rice them into the ‘flour well’ with the salt. Using your hands, bring the flour and potatoes together and gently knead (without pulling or stretching, not using the same motions you would when making bread). Wait until all the flour is mixed in before slowly adding in the reserved flour until the gnocchi dough is not sticky.
Step 4- Roll and cut: Shape the gnocchi dough into a ball and portion into 4. Lightly flour your working surface (and roll one gnocchi dough ball into a ‘thumb-size log’, then use the bench-scrapper or sharp knife to cut the ‘log’ into 1/2-inch gnocchi ‘balls’. Move them onto a floured surface.
Step 5- Shape and boil: If you have a wooden gnocchi shaping board you can use that. Otherwise use a fork to shape them, it helps to dust the fork with flour and make sure the gnocchi is also lightly floured.
Hold the fork in one hand and with the other gently roll the gnocchi along the ridges of the fork.
Important
Should you choose to freeze the gnocchi, make sure to take them out right before you dunk them into the water. Otherwise, they will defrost and will be quite soft making it hard to scoop them off the tray without disfiguring them. Note that: cooking gnocchi from the freezer will take roughly 1-2 minutes more to float to the top when boiled.
How to Freeze Gnocchi
Once your gnocchi is made and shaped. Transfer them to a lightly floured tray that can fit in your freezer. Cover it with cling film and put the tray in the freezer.
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Homemade gnocchi from scratch
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Lunch/Dinner–Italian
By Angela –Serves: 4
Prep Time: 20 minutes–Cooking Time: 40 minutes–Total Time: 1 hour
Pillow soft homemade gnocchi from scratch using 3 simple pantry ingredients.
Ingredients
- 640g white floury potatoes
- 330g 00 flour (plain flour)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
1
Submerge the potatoes in a pot of already boiling water and leave to simmer for 30 minutes or until soft when pierced
2
Preheat the oven to 200°C/392°F
3
Transfer the potatoes from the water to a baking tray and bake (uncovered) for 10 minutes to reduce the hydration
4
Using 3/4 of the measured flour, make a well and set aside the rest of the flour to add on later if needed
5
Peel the potatoes and rice them over the 'flour well', sprinkle in the salt
6
Gently knead, until all the flour has been incorporated, and add more as you go if needed in small quantities of about 1 tablespoon at a time until the gnocchi is soft but not sticky
7
Shape the gnocchi dough into a ball and portion into 4. Lightly flour your working surface (add more flour if need be) and roll one gnocchi dough ball into a 'thumb-size log', then use the bench-scrapper or sharp knife to cut the 'log' into 1/2-inch gnocchi 'balls'. Move them onto a floured surface.
8
If you have a wooden gnocchi shaping board you can use that. Otherwise use a fork to shape them, it helps to dust the fork with flour and make sure the gnocchi is also lightly floured. Hold the fork in one hand and with the other gently roll the gnocchi along the ridges of the fork.
9
Keep the shaped gnocchi on a generously floured portable surface. You can either cook them right away or freeze them for later.
child friendlycomfort food
