Recipe: Gnocchi

Definitely one of the harder dishes that I have ever attempted; we got it right in the end but it sure took a while. There are a few different tips that can definitely make your life easier. Here are a few that we picked up on:

  • Starchy potatoes (for example agria, rua and desiree) will hold the dough together better;
  • Bake the potatoes on a bed of rock salt: this dries them out more efficiently;
  • Use a ricer or a masher to crush the potatoes;
  • Make dough while potatoes are still hot;
  • Use as little flour as possible;
  • Don’t overwork the dough;
  • Cook the gnocchi in an abundant amount of barely simmering, salty water;
  • Once it rises in the water, leave for a further 10 seconds;
  • If they are too floury, leave them in for a bit longer (but if you leave them in for too long they will dissolve); and
  • If you don’t cook them all you can freeze the uncooked gnocchi.

Collect

  • 500 g agria potatotes
  • rocksalt
  • 350 g flour
  • salt
  • 7 eggs

Create

  1. 190°C bake.
  2. Wash the potatoes; prick them all over with a fork and cover the bottom of a tray with a layer of rock salt.
  3. Bake for about an hour (or until cooked). As soon as possible once they come out of the oven, peel off the skin.
  4. Mash potatoes into mixing bowl with a well in the centre.
  5. Add 250 g of the flour and salt. Mix minimally – add more flour until it forms a dough.
  6. Dust flour across your work bench, flatten the dough into squares that are about 1 cm thick.
  7. Divide into 1 cm wide segments with a knife then roll into long sausages.
  8. Lay the sausages side by side and cut into 1 cm wide segments and place into a floured tray.
  9. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and then simmer.
  10. Tip in half of the gnocchi and wait for them to rise. Leave for 10 seconds then remove with slitted spoon into bowl.
  11. Drizzle with olive oil to stop it from sticking.
  12. Serve the gnocchi with pesto (or alternatively sage leaves, tomato and cheese)

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