Potato Gnocchi

Until now, my one and only attempt to make gnocchi was when I was 15. I had never eaten it before and didn’t even know what it looked like. When it came to making the traditional fork impression on each piece, I completely flattened them and so they ended up as flat, sticky, soggy little potato pancakes and something inside me said that they weren’t right. My family ate them anyway, to be polite I’m sure!

All these years, I have been reluctant to attempt them again, almost envisioning a disaster and in this case, I feared, my husband wouldn’t have been as polite as my family were.
Last night, however, I felt ready to face my gnocchi fear head on. I invited my in-laws over for dinner – gnocchi, of course. I decided to try and enjoy the experience of it, imagining myself as an old Italian lady whose hands have rolled millions of gnocchi and could do it with her eyes closed (although mine were open the entire time).

So I made, I conquered and I impressed. The gnocchi had great texture and was the perfect blanket for my napolitana sauce. I decided not to make the fork impression on each piece – I prefer them without as they look less like the kind you buy in the supermarket and more homemade.

I will definitely make these again. With a fresh, homemade pasta sauce it’s the perfect meal and is sure to impress any guest.

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes (Desiree or Nicola)
300 – 325g plain flour
Butter to grease the tray
Salt

Method

Grease a tray with butter, so that the gnocchi don’t stick.
Peel and boil potatoes until soft. Pass them through a potato ricer, straight onto your kitchen counter. Add salt to the potatoes, and with one hand add the flour whilst kneading with the other, until all the flour is incorporated. It should resemble a soft, moist dough.
Divide the ‘dough’ into four, and roll each quarter into a rope about 2 cm thick. Cut into pieces about 3cm long and place on the tray in a single layer. Continue until all the dough is used, and cover the tray with a tea towel until ready to cook.
To cook, bring water to the boil in a big pot and salt the water. Gently add the gnocchi once it rises to the surface, remove with a slotted spoon. Serve with your favourite pasta sauce.