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I’m drawn towards pasta and mashed potatoes when I think of comfort foods. So this homemade potato gnocchi is a win-win! I can enjoy a bowlful of comfort with just five ingredients and a few minutes. One might expect a potato gnocchi to be dense but it’s really quite light and pillow-like, a perfect way to enjoy an indulgent comfort food.
The process is simple: red potatoes are peeled and boiled until fork tender. The potatoes should be boiled in lightly salted water to infuse the potatoes with flavor. Once the potatoes are fork-tender and cooled, I take out one of my favorite cooking tools, a ricer. It shaves the softened potato into smaller bits; this will help achieve a smoother dough as the riced potato mixes with flour. A beaten egg joins the potato and flour to form a smooth dough.
Once the dough is ready, the gnocchi can start to take shape. If you’ve got some helpers in your kitchen, this is a great way to get kiddos involved with the cutting and rolling of the dough! I grab a pastry cutter and cut the dough into equally sized sections, about six or so. A floured countertop is essential to working the dough. Each segment is rolled into a log of approximately 8-inches long and 1-inch in diameter.
I again pick up my pastry cutter (or a knife) to section the dough into 1-inch pieces. Each piece is then rolled over a gnocchi board to give it those distinctive grooves. Don’t have a gnocchi board? A fork can be used, too, creating the same groove pattern as a gnocchi board. Each piece is placed on a floured baking sheet to await the boiling water.
A pot of boiling and salted water awaits these delightful puffs of dough. Fresh pasta cooks faster than premade pasta, so once these begin to float to the surface – just a few minutes – then I pull pull them out with a strainer and plunk them into my awaiting marinara sauce. That’s it! Homemade Potato Gnocchi couldn’t be any easier. These puffs of fluffy dough are like eating delightful pasta clouds.
When potato meets pasta, deliciousness and comfort are the result. Enjoy!
This recipe is featured in our online cooking class, Three Famous Gnocchi.
Click the link above to watch the step-by-step video of how to make this recipe!
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Homemade Potato Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. 3oz. red potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 egg, beaten
- Marinara sauce, for serving
Preparation
- Prepare a floured parchment-lined sheet tray.
- Cook potato in lightly salted boiling water until fork tender. Let potatoes cool fully before making the dough.
- Rice potatoes into the flour in a bowl or on the counter top. Lightly work the potatoes into the flour, then drizzle with beaten egg. Mix the dough in the bowl until a large dough forms and dump the bowl onto the countertop.
- Keep working the dough into all the craggy flour bits that haven’t been worked in until all the bits are picked up and smooth dough forms.
- Cut the dough into workable pieces and roll each piece into a rope, about 8-inches long and 1-inch in diameter. Cut each rope using a bench scraper or knife, then roll each piece over a gnocchi board or fork onto the prepared floured tray.
- Boil gnocchi in salted boiling water until they just start to float, then remove to your favorite sauce or place on a sheet tray to freeze. Buon Appetito!