Gnocchi

From GoonsWithSpoons
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Simple Gnocchi.

Gnocchi is essentially a potato dumpling. What you do with it, serve with it, etc. is completely up to you. They're good sauteed in butter (watch them swell up with cholesterol!), seared in some hot oil, a nice cream sauce compliments them, basically it's like a blank canvas. You can of course make sweet potato gnocchi, pumpkin gnocchi, etc.

Good gnocchi does not have a recipe, it has good form. Practice makes perfect.

Start off baking/steaming your potatos (about 1 potato/serving). Cook them through, but try not to brown them under the skin if baking. An hour at 350 will almost always suffice.

Once they are done you want to remove them from heat, and puncture them. A good cut through the middle will do it. This helps them cool and helps them lose moisture. More moisture = more flour = more kneading = more developed gluten = tougher gnocchi. Of course you do want some moisture.

Take your potatos when cool (room temp or cooler) and either run them through a ricer, mash them, or put them through a strong food processor. You don't want any chunks, though it is fairly forgiving.

Throw some flour on an easy-to-clean bench. I prefer metal or stone. It's hard to use too much bench flour. Make a "well" with your potatos, a nice pile with a hole in the middle. The amount of egg yolks depend on the amount of potatos you use. I usually use two yolks per 4-5 potatos.

After adding your egg, you can salt/pepper the potatos before you proceed. This is the absolute best time to salt your gnocchi IMO. So salt liberally.

Add 3/4-1 cup of flour for every 3-4 potatos on top of your well, and work the potatos/flour/eggs together, to simply combine. Now, the stickiness of your dough indicates it's "doneness". Add flour in 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup increments (depending on how many potatos you have and water). Fold your dough together, kneading it, untill it just looses it's tackiness. Don't overwork it.

Now you want to clean all the bits and shit off your bench, and let your dough sit for a minute while you do it. A benchknife or anything flat and metal will do.

Now you want to flour your bench again, and roll portions of your dough out in little tubes, play-dough "snakes" if you will.

I usually roll them about 1/2 inch thick, and cut them in 1/2 inch increments on a bias. The size and shape are up to you. Make sure to dust them with flour before tossing them to the side though, or you'll be rolling them out again.

Get a pot of boiling water ready (rolling boil!). Drop the gnocchi in, and wait for them to float back up to the surface. Sometimes they ride the bubbles back up but then sink, they aren't -quite- done at this point. You want them to float for 3-5 seconds before you remove them.

Voila, toss with oil to keep them from sticking, and you have a versatile starch that not only looks cool, but sounds cool. And most people won't just call them "potato dumplings".

I love them simply seared in hot oil, mayble a little fresh pepper/butter to finish them if I lack good oil. The outsides get nice and browned, giving them some real substance, while the insides are like tender little nuggets of potato joy.