Dear Reader, I was up until this year, a complete gnocchi failure. I had tried at least a dozen times to master gnocchi and ended up with lumpy, heavy, starchy bullets. In fact, I think that's what one of my ex boyfriend's called them (and no, that's not why he was an ex ;) ). I hurtled from making pumpkin gnocchi which was an unmitigated, sloppy mess to gnocchi made with instant mashed potato no less. You see a chef had told me that to make good gnocchi you needed the potato to be very dry. He made his with Deb instant mashed potato powder.
I was so excited about the idea of mastering gnocchi that I went to buy some instant mash and made it immediately. It was possibly the worst batch of gnocchi I had made. But enter Francesca. She is the mother of Tony Sabia of Puntino Trattoria in Darlinghurst. Every Wednesday morning, passersby see Francesca working away in the window from 5am until midday making pasta for the restaurant.
Their specialties are the gnocchi and "ferrietti con la mollica" a pasta made with a wire that must be rolled individually taking about two hours to work on two kilos of flour. Francesca's recipes are handed down from her grandmother and the family comes from the Basalicata region in Potenza province in a town called Viggianello, an ancient village of just over 3,000 inhabitants.
The gnocchi however, was a cinch and Francesca was going to be kind enough to show me how to make it. Francesca was softly spoken and warm and her eyes sparkled when we started to make the pasta. Her gnocchi was light, silky and simple to make with only two ingredients: potato and flour.
Use a fine 00 Italian flour.The key to gnocchi is to not allow the potato to take in too much flour which can weigh it down so ensure that the potato is completely cool by the time you add the flour which is in fact the thing that takes the longest. After that, it's really a matter of rolling, cutting and cooking the gnocchi. For the final step of rolling them, Francesca uses a special flour from Weston's Milling called Continental Sharps (sometimes called Continental Flour) which is coarsein texture, between an all purpose flour and a fine semolina.
As I sunk my teeth into the sublime pillows of gnocchi, I felt relief and joy that I was no longer a gnocchi failure. And now I pass on Francesca's foolproof perfect gnocchi recipe so that you can avoid potato bullets or grenades (don't ask, one time they really were large grenades ;) ).
So tell me Dear Reader, is there an item that you have been unable to make? And have you ever tried making gnocchi?
Perfect Gnocchi
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Use a potato ricer to mash them (do not use a food processor)
You don't need egg, only potato and flour
Cook gnocchi once they are shaped-because you don't want to add too much flour
1 kilo desiree potatoes
350g Italian 00 flour plus extra for the board
Your favourite sauce to serve it with (pesto, simple tomato, browned butter & sage, whatever takes your fancy)
You will also need a knife or pastry cutter and a ridged gnocchi board or fork
Step 1 - Boil the potatoes in their skins until soft. While the potatoes are still hot, take a potato ricer and push the whole potatoes through it making mashed potato. Discard the skins. Allow to cool completely - you can spread the mashed potato out onto a clean surface to facilitate cooling.
Step 2 - Put a very large pot of water onto boil as you want to cook the gnocchi straight away. Add the flour to the potato mixture and mix together until you get a cohesive dough. Take the dough and pinch off handfuls and roll it out into a log shape. If this is long, cut it in half or you can line up several logs together (making sure to flour them lightly on the outside so that they don't stick.
Step 3 - Cut them into small pieces. Using the gnocchi board, roll the pieces onto the ridged gnocchi board to get the gnocchi pattern. You can be quite firm with them and "flick" them off the board. You actually flatten them on the board and they curl around so that they aren't completely solid and have a cavity in the back of the ridge (see image below). They look a little like ears! If you use a fork, simply press the fork tines gently into the gnocchi pillows.
Top: pressing down firmly on the board; middle flipping the pieces; bottom, Francesca's advanced moves using a fork on her thumb!
Step 4 - Start to heat your sauce in a separate pan. Place the gnocchi in the boiling water and they're done once they float to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in the sauce and bathe the gnocchi in sauce and serve immediately. You can also place the cooked gnocchi in a lightly oiled baking dish and toss so that they don't stick together.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, then turn down to a simmer, and tip in half the gnocchi. Stir, then wait for them to rise to the surface. Count slowly to 10, then remove with a slotted spoon, and tip into whatever sauce you're using.
Plus, it has too much protein: High-protein wheat results in chewy gnocchi. If you want to be true to Italian gnocchi, look for imported Italian flour marked "00 tenero," which is milled from soft wheat with a low protein content.
Egg yolk added to your gnocchi dough helps improve texture, and keep it together while cooking. Gnocchi is traditionally made with eggs in Veneto and no eggs in Piedmont, the two Northern Italian regions famous for gnocchi. We vote for egg yolks at the rate of 1 per (500g) 1 lb of uncooked potatoes used.
I find baking potatoes to be dry and floury. My favorite potatoes for gnocchi are Yukon gold or other yellow potatoes. They have a rich, buttery flavor and a creamy, fluffy texture. Flour: A judicious amount of unbleached all-purpose flour helps to turn the potatoes into dough.
The downside is that boiling can result in gummy, waterlogged gnocchi if you cook them too long. This is more of an issue when boiling store-bought gnocchi than with homemade ones. Frying gnocchi in a little butter or oil takes more effort, and the dumplings will be crisp on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside.
Always bake potatoes in their skins to make gnocchi from. It removes maximum moisture from the potato. Don't bake them in advance as you need to use them as soon as they come out of the oven. Juggling hot potatoes is not easy but if you leave them to cool the starch changes and your gnocchi will be inedible.
The gnocchi dough will still be a bit crumbly when you first mix the potatoes with the flour and eggs. You want the final dough to be soft, smooth, and a little sticky. For gnocchi with a fluffy texture, don't knead the dough past the point where the flour is fully incorporated into the potatoes.
Chewy gnocchi are the result of too much flour and over kneading the dough. It's important to knead the dough just until it comes together into a smooth ball and no more. This is because you don't want to encourage too much gluten development which makes them tough, chewy and rubbery.
The secret to the lightest, most tender potato gnocchi is to bake the potatoes instead of boiling them. A baked potato is dryer than one that has been boiled, which means you avoid having to add more flour to the dough to account for excess moisture, a practice that leads to over-kneaded, tough gnocchi.
If the gnocchi fall apart or appear to be fraying at the edges, it can mean one of two things: You let them cook for too long or, even worse, you didn't combine the potato and flour into true dough. In the latter case, it's back to square one.
Believe it or not, regular pasta is actually more carb-heavy than gnocchi, coming in at around 2 times the amount of carbs per serving. Gnocchi is also notorious for having a lot more sodium, with over 200 grams of it per serving. Regular pasta doesn't have nearly as high of a sodium content.
Due to the smaller and denser nature of gnocchi, it is more likely that you will end up eating bigger portions than if you chose regular pasta. Although all foods can be part of a healthy diet in moderation, if you are trying to lose weight opt for other options than gnocchi or pasta.
pasta, neither is really the better option. Regular pasta is higher in protein and has small amounts of some nutrients, while gnocchi is lower in calories and carbohydrates. But because gnocchi is smaller and denser, it's likely that you'd end up eating bigger portions than if you were eating regular pasta.
Russets are dryer and hold less water, making them ideal for gnocchi making. Because of their dry and starchy texture, they may require less flour than other varieties, yielding an airier texture, and making them an excellent choice for a beginner or anyone who wants a no-fuss gnocchi experience.
The secret to the lightest, most tender potato gnocchi is to bake the potatoes instead of boiling them. A baked potato is dryer than one that has been boiled, which means you avoid having to add more flour to the dough to account for excess moisture, a practice that leads to over-kneaded, tough gnocchi.
Right after making your dough, cut off a small, bite-size piece of gnocchi, roll it over a gnocchi board if you wish, and boil it until tender. If it stays together, it's good to go! If it disintegrates, you need more flour.
Place them in a large pot of well-salted boiling water. Cook gnocchi until they float to the top, about 2 to 4 minutes. Gently remove them with a slotted spoon and drain well. Toss them in a saucepan with your favorite sauce and cook together for about 2 minutes to marry flavors.
Introduction: My name is Chrissy Homenick, I am a tender, funny, determined, tender, glorious, fancy, enthusiastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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