Easy Homemade Gnocchi
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Easy Homemade Gnocchi do not compromise taste. This recipe brings an Italian favourite to your table withe ease. I could eat these little potato puffs every day of the week. Enjoy the gnocchi with a savoury or sweet sauce.
My nonna made a lot of gnocchi in Italy and Canada. We spent the whole morning making them, and then she would freeze them. I remember the whole table full of gnocchi. My favourite sauce was her Calabrese tomato made with pork, veal and beef. The meat fell apart and the aroma filled the neighbourhood. She used few ingredients, but the oregano and garlic were the stars of the dish.
Calabrese gnocchi have a little bite to them; they are denser and not as fluffy as their northern counterparts. Her dough was always smooth, soft and a little sticky. She always used Yukon Gold Potatoes for the best gnocchi dough. Gnocchi are simply made with potatoes and flour. In the south we don’t add eggs to our gnocchi. The traditional recipe uses boiled potatoes and then the potatoes are peeled and riced.
Today I take a short cut and the results are good. I use potato flakes, water and flour. The dough comes together easily. I use a special gnocchi basket that makes little grooves in the gnocchi. My uncles Danielle, Rolando and Guido were basket weavers in Figline Vegliaturo. They were amazing at their craft.
The Potato flakes with the water wait to cool.
Add the flour and mix with a fork.
Roll dough onto the counter and knead.
The dough is soft, smooth and a little sticky.
Flour a tray and assemble your tools.
I roll the dough into little logs.
These little pillows are fluffy and cut easily.
I have my special little gnocchi rolling basket from Italy. If you don’t have one, use the back of a fork.
These baskets are a real treat to have. My mom’s friend gave me this one in Figline Vegliaturo a few years ago.
Ready to cook or for the freezer.
With my mom’s friends and some relatives in my hometown of Figline Vegliaturo in Calabria, Italy. My mom’s friend Artemia sitting in the chair beside me gave me her gnocchi basket to take home.
Easy Homemade Gnocchi
Easy Homemade Gnocchi can be on your table in 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup potato flakes plain or herbed
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour more flour for dusting
Instructions
Making the Gnocchi
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Boil the water and pour into the potato flakes.
Stir and let cool for 5 minutes.
Add the flour to the bowl and stir with a fork.
When the dough comes together put onto the counter and knead.
The dough should be smooth.
Cut the dough into six pieces and roll into 1/2 inch cords.
Slice each cord into 1/2 inch pieces.
Dust the pieces with flour.
Score the pieces on the back of a fork or a gnocchi basket.
Place on a floured cookie sheet.
The gnocchi may be frozen on the cookie sheet and then gathered and placed into a freezer bag.
Cooking the gnocchi
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Put a large pot of water to boil.
When the water comes to a boil, put in the frozen or fresh gnocchi.
Add salt to the water. I measure using the palm of my hand. The rule of thumb is that the water should taste like the ocean. 🙂
The gnocchi are done when they rise to the top.
Let them cook for one more minute.
Strain and serve with your favourite sauce.
Recipe Notes
Gnocchi may be served with:
- tomato sauce
- butter and sage or basil
- For a sweet sauce mix brown sugar, nuts, butter,nutmeg and sambuca. This can be served as a main or dessert.
your recipe is wonderful because it is the same recipe that i was taught by my mother. I was also born in figline and came to canada when i was eight years old. I believe that the lady that was sitting in the chair is Artemia my cousins wife and the lady who you have your arm around was my aunt Adelina.
Thanks so much! Artemia,a good friend of my mom’s gave me the gnocchi handmade basket. My nonna was from Figline too and her mother was an Adamo married to
an Isola. I love Figline; it is such a little piece of heaven on earth. It is a quiet little town with fresh air where clean water flows down from the mountains.
This technique certainly looks intriguing. Can you tell me approximately how long to knead the dough?
It doesn’t take long to knead. Maybe about 10 turns. It comes together so easily. Let me know how it turns out.