Potato Gnocchi

 Ingredients:

500g russet or gold potatoes, peeled, quartered

175g 00 flour, plus extra for dusting

1 egg

Salt, a pinch

40g Parmesan, grated (optional)

Place potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 20ish minutes, depending on size. They’re done when you can poke them with a fork without difficulty. Drain and let cool for a few minutes.

Place the flour on a clean counter and make a large well. Rice potatoes directly into the well. Now, you might think you don’t need to rice the potatoes, that you can mash or blend them smoothly enough… wrong. Invest in the ricer. Makes a big difference. Crack the egg in the middle and add the pinch of salt and cheese (if you’re using it).

Using a fork, start by beating the egg and then work your way out to the edges. Use a bench scraper to start incorporating the flour and continue to mix all together. Once it starts to come together, use your hands and continue squeezing and gently kneading until it forms a soft dough and there’s no more flour. Don’t overmix or it will get sticky. Shape into a round ball. Dust the counter and dough with flour and cut in quarters. Gently roll each piece into a log that’s 1-2 centimeters thick. Dust with more flour and cut into small pieces about 2 centimeters thick. Take each piece and gently roll along the back of a fork to make the classic ridges. Or you can roll each one into a ball and poke the center to make a dent.

In a large pot, fill with water and add a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a boil. In batches, add gnocchi and leave them alone and let them cook. They’re done cooking once they start to float, about 2-3 minutes. Use a spider to remove cooked gnocchi and transfer to a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil to prevent them from sticking to each other. Serve with sauce of your choice!

You can freeze gnocchi to cook later. After you’ve shaped them and before cooking, place on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Flash freeze in the freezer and then move to a freezer bag. Cook like normal from frozen. It just might take a little longer for them to float.

Recipe adapted from Our Cooking Journey.