Make Your Own Gnocchi

Name: Make Your Own Gnocchi
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 0
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 kg floury potatoes (peeled and cut into pieces about 4 cm in size); 150–200 g flour + a little flour for dusting; 1 egg (beaten); Salt

Delicious homemade Italian gnocchi made from potatoes. We'll share a simple basic gnocchi recipe with you.

Easy

30 min.

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Gnocchi Do it yourself Primi piatti Vegetarian Meat Fish & Seafood

Potato gnocchi (gnocchi di patate) are an absolute classic of Italian cuisine. Gnocchi (pronounced “nyokki”) are served as a first course, just like pasta, but they are not pasta. Rather, they are small dumplings (lumps) that are usually made from potato dough. In addition to the classic potato gnocchi, there are also other Italian gnocchi variations—such as those made with bread dough. Potato gnocchi, for example, are particularly popular in the Italian region of Abruzzo. By the way, making gnocchi di patate yourself is easier and faster than you might think. In just about 30 minutes, you can whip up homemade gnocchi using this basic recipe.

By the way: Just like the tomato, the potato made its way from the Americas to Europe in the 16th century. And together, they pair especially well—for example, in basil gnocchi with tomato-ricotta sauce.

Ingredients

1 kg floury potatoes (peeled and cut into pieces about 4 cm in size)

150–200 g flour + a little flour for dusting

1 egg (beaten)

Salt

Step 1 : The Preparation

Peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces about 4 cm in size. Then steam them for about 25 minutes and mash the hot potatoes with a potato masher until they’re very fine. If you don’t have a steamer insert or a steamer, you can also boil the potatoes in water and drain them. However, this causes them to absorb more moisture. So in the next step, you’ll need more flour to keep the dough from becoming too runny.

Step 2 : The Gnocchi Dough

To make the dough, mix the egg with a little salt using a fork, then gradually stir in the flour. Knead everything by hand until you have a smooth dough—but don't knead for more than 5 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.

Tip

GNOCCHI DOUGH: KNEAD IMMEDIATELY AND DON'T KNEAD FOR TOO LONG

Unlike pasta dough made from durum wheat semolina, you shouldn’t knead gnocchi dough for too long or with too much pressure. Also, don’t let the dough sit out in the kitchen for too long—otherwise, it will become mushy.

Step 3 : Shaping the gnocchi

Now form the dough into rolls (about 1.5 cm in diameter) and cut them into 2-cm pieces.

Place the raw gnocchi on a lightly floured dish towel (to absorb moisture), sprinkle a little more flour over them, and press a ridged pattern into them with a fork. This helps the sauce stick to them better.

Step 4 : The Finale

Making gnocchi is really easy: Bring lightly salted water to a boil in a pot and cook the gnocchi in batches. When they float to the surface, they’re done. Quickly scoop them out with a slotted spoon, drain them, and serve immediately with a delicious tomato sauce or pesto. Complimenti! You now have homemade gnocchi di patate.

Tip

FREEZING GNOCCHI

If you don’t want to eat your gnocchi right away, you can also freeze them: Place the cooked gnocchi side by side on a plate and let them cool. Then put the plate in the freezer for about 30 minutes and transfer the gnocchi to a freezer bag to freeze. The gnocchi should be eaten within two months at most.