A delicious, simple homemade potato gnocchi recipe
If you’re not into cooking, homemade gnocchi might sound a little bit outside of your comfort zone. As someone who eats pasta or frozen quinoa from Trader Joe’s most nights, I was pretty worried it wouldn’t go that well, but trial and error with my housemates resulted in a dish that was pretty tasty (at least by my standards). This recipe is super inexpensive but very filling, and the actual process requires few cooking skills to make something that tastes decent. And, you can call your mom and brag about how you’ve become a chef (just don’t tell her that you eat chicken nuggets for every other meal). You’re going to want to give yourself a large chunk of time, and get a bunch of helpers to make the process more fun. Enjoy this recipe for delicious gnocchi.
Ingredients
- 2-3 medium potatoes
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup flour
- Sauce of your choice
Directions
- Wash your potatoes, and put them in a large pot of water on the stove. Bring the water to a boil, and cook the potatoes until they’re soft all the way through, about 30-40 minutes. You can also cut the potatoes into pieces to make the process a little faster. You’ll know they’re ready when you feel like you could easily mash them into a soft texture.
- Remove the potatoes, and peel them as soon as they’re cool enough.
- Mash the potatoes using whatever you have, be that a ricer or even just a fork. You want the potatoes to be even and have no hard lumps.
- Once they’re cool enough to handle, form the mashed potatoes into a mound, crack the egg into the middle and add the flour. With your hands, mix together until the consistency is like dough. If it’s too sticky, add some more flour!
- Cut your dough into chunks. Roll each chunk into a rope that has about the same diameter as your thumb. Use a little flour to prevent the dough from sticking to your hands or the counter.
- Once you’ve formed all the dough into snakes, cut them into about ¾-inch pieces. It’s easiest to just leave these chunks as they are for a natural look, but you can also shape them with a fork or your fingers.
- Bring water to a boil on the stove, and throw in your small gnocchi pillows, about 20-40 at a time. You’ll know they’re done cooking when they float back to the surface.
- Use a slotted spoon to collect the gnocchi from the water, and place them in a bowl.
- Add your chosen sauce to the bowl.
- Serve up and enjoy!
There you have it — homemade gnocchi! Chances are, your first time making them, they won’t be perfect. You might find your dough to be too crumbly or too sticky, or the texture of the cooked gnocchi might be a little dense or chewy because you over-mashed. The more you practice and adjust your technique, the better they’ll get. And hey, if the texture isn’t great, just add more sauce. Good luck!
Contact Elysa Dombro at edombro@dailycal.org.