There are few things in life I know for sure and one of them is that my Nonna made the world’s best homemade gnocchi with Bolognese sauce. I’ve spent the past several years trying to recreate what she mastered. I always thought making gnocchi from scratch would be really hard, but it’s actually quite simple (though a bit time consuming). I like to make gnocchi in large quantities so I can serve it for dinner and freeze some for later. Here is my recipe for gnocchi like Nonna use to make:
Time: 2 hours
Serves: 4-8
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds russet potatoes (about 4 medium), scrubbed
- 1 1/2 unbleached all-purpose flour, more for kneading and rolling
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Directions:
- Put the unpeeled potatoes in a large pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, partially cover the pot and simmer the potatoes until they are completely tender and easily pierced with a fork, 30 to 35 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes. Let them cool just enough that you can handle them and then peel them. Cut them in half crosswise and pass them through a ricer into a large bowl. Let them cool until almost room temperature, at least 20 minutes
- Lightly flour a work surface.
- In a small bowl, mix the flour with salt, add the egg to the potatoes and then add the flour mixture. Mix with your hands until the flour is moistened and the dough starts to clump together.
- Gather the dough together and press it against the bottom of the bowl until you have a uniform mass. Transfer it to the floured work surface and wash your hands.
- Knead gently until the flour is completely incorporated and the dough is soft, smooth and a little sticky (30 seconds to 1 minute). Don’t over mix it or the gnocchi will be tough.
- Move the dough to one side, making sure the surface underneath it is well floured. Cover it with a clean kitchen towel.
- Cover two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment and sprinkle lightly with flour.
- Remove any lingering bits of dough from your work surface and lightly reflour the surface.
- Tear off a piece of dough about the size of a large lemon and put the towel back on the rest of the dough so it doesn’t dry out.
- With the palms of both hands, roll the dough piece on the floured surface into a rope about 3/4 inch in diameter.
- With a sharp knife, cut the rope crosswise every 3/4 inch to make roughly 3/4 inch square gnocchi.
- Arrange the gnocchi in a single layer on the parchment paper-covered baking sheets, making sure they don’t touch.
- Repeat until you run out of dough, reflouring the work surface as needed. When all the gnocchi have been cut and spread out on the baking sheets, sprinkle them with a little more flour.
- If you’re going to use the gnocchi within 2 to 3 hours, they can sit out on the counter. Or you can put the gnocchi in the freezer while they’re still on the baking sheets and freeze until they are hard to the touch, at least one hour. Transfer them to a large zip-lock bag and freeze for up to two months. Cook frozen gnocchi in boiling water in two batches.
Notes:
- Recipe from Fine Cooking.