One of my fav dishes.
So many variations: potatoes, pumpkin, ricotta cheese, chestnuts, alla romana.
So simple and so good, so many memories behind them... the Thursday lunch at grandma(why Thursday I don’t know but we respect Italian traditions).
Today I talk about potatoes gnocchi.
There are a few tips to make them perfect:
The choice of potato is key. Old potatoes are the best ones as they lost big part of their water. In this way the texture of the gnocchi will be more compact. The potatoes should be the white ones as they contain more starch. Best qualities: Majestic, Kennebec, Imola, Liseta, Timate, Adora
Put potatoes in cold water and boil them with the skin to avoid them to absorb too much water
Mix flour 00 (about 25%-30% of the weight of potatoes, depending on how much flour they absorb) when potatoes are still warm
Do not knead too much or you will help gluten to come out and your gnocchi will be chewy
Egg or no egg? I personally avoid it as they perfectly come out without it so I keep them lighter Most of the time we just add the egg because we are scared that the dough will fall apart
When do I know they are ready? Easy. When they float they are cooked!
4 SERVINGS:
1kg potatoes
300g flour
Nutmeg (opt)
INSTRUCTIONS:
Boil the potatoes till you can poke them with a fork (time depending on the size, usually about 40')
Take them out from the water and peel them, if you have a potato ricer (schiacciapatate) you can smash them there and the skin will stay in it the ricer
Add the flour, the nutmeg and quickly make the dough
Make cylinders and cut them
Boil them into salty water till they come to surface
Sauce ideas: tomato&basil, butter-sage&parmesan, pesto, cheese sauce, asparagus&saffron etc
TIP: If you have gnocchi leftovers put them in the oven with tomato sauce, basilico, mozzarella and parmesan for Gnocchi alla Sorrentina