Gnocchi di patate (potato gnocchi)
Soft potato pillows. That's the description.
Ingredients
- 600 grams Agria potatoes
- 1 Egg
- 150 grams Flour
- 30 grams Parmigiano Reggiano
- Salt pinch
- Pepper pinch
- Fresh thyme optional
Instructions
Bake the potatoes
- Dry bake the potatoes at 200°C (390°F) fan forced for approximately 45 minutes or until you can easily pierce a fork through it.
- Once cooked, use tongs to grab the potatoes and slice in half to let the steam out as we want minimum moisture in our dough.
Making the dough
- Peel the skin of the potatoes. Do not discard the skin, you can make potato skin chips out of them which is equally as delicious! Once peeled, mash the potatoes with ideally a ricer to ensure there are no lumps, but if you don't have one, a handheld masher should suffice which is what I used in this recipe. Let the mashed potato cool down slightly.
- Add the egg, freshly grated parmesan, flour, and season with salt & pepper and/or fresh herbs. Combine all ingredients until it forms a ball, if the dough is still sticky dust a bit more flour. Dust the bench with flour and divide the dough in thirds, rolling each portion into a thin log. Divide into bite sized chunks and dust with more flour to stop them from sticking. Note that these puff up as you boil them.
- You can either use a fork to create indents by pressing them lightly onto the fork then slide it off. The indents help the gnocchi cling onto the sauce. Alternatively you can just lightly poke your finger to create a slight dip to create little pillows.
- In a large pot, boil water with a healthy amount of salt, like how you would when cooking pasta. Once boiling, drop the gnocchi but do not overcrowd them. They will tell you they're cooked when they start to float.
- To serve, you can either directly place them in a pan with melted butter and sage to make them crispy for added texture, or simply just drain them and mix through your favourite jar of pesto. But without question always finish it off with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano because you deserve happiness.
Notes
- You can boil the potatoes instead of dry baking them. Place the potatoes in a pot of cold water then turn on the stove in a medium heat. Boil the potatoes for around about 30 minutes approximately until you can pierce a fork through them, this really depends on the size of the potatoes. Be careful not to overcook them as they open up, and once the skin opens up the water goes inside and you generally don't want too much moisture when making gnocchi.
- By all means use Pecorino Romano, or Grana Padano in replacement of Parmiganio Reggiano, whichever you prefer. I use the cheese as my seasoning.
- You can batch make these gnocchi and freeze it. Dust the gnocchi in flour and put them in a sheet tray on a single layer, freeze for a couple of hours and once they've hardened up, you can put them in a ziplock bag or an airtight container and keep in the freezer.