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.
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.
The best gnocchi are made with baked potatoes rather than boiled. You get lighter gnocchi because the spuds don't absorb as much water. That means you won't need as much flour in the dough, which can make the dumplings heavy.
They cook in less than five minutes and will work wonderfully with the homemade tomato sauce in this recipe. To keep gnocchi from becoming mushy, be sure not to overcook them. After they rise to the surface (this should take about 2 minutes), cook them for 15 more seconds, or until tender.
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 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.
Try not to knead it as kneading will develop the gluten and make your gnocchi chewy. Keep some flour in a cup for dusting the board and your hands as you work to stop the dough sticking. Cut your dough into 6 pieces and roll them each into fat ropes about as thick as your thumb.
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.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the gnocchi, tilting the pan from side to side briefly to stop them sticking together, then simmer for about 1½–2 minutes until they start to float. Drain the gnocchi and leave them to steam-dry for 1–2 minutes. Meanwhile, start to make the sauce.
How to prepare gnocchi. Poach gnocchi in batches in a pan of lightly salted water for 2-4 minutes. Cooked gnocchi will float to the top. Strain and serve immediately with a good pasta sauce.
So instead of boiling or baking a package of gnocchi on a Wednesday night and wishing it tasted more like the pillowy homemade version, I broil it. Yep, that's right: I rip open one of those shelf-stable packages, toss the gnocchi with a tablespoon of olive oil, a lot of grated Parmesan cheese and a little bit of salt.
If you've never tried pan frying gnocchi, you are in for a treat!Forget boiling it, you can actually just toss it in a skillet and cook it. This means less dishes, as it's all cooked in one skillet and crispy, pan fried gnocchi is the result. I love the texture of crispy gnocchi, with it's crunchy browned exterior.
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.
What is the best flour for making gnocchi? I always suggest using 00 double zero flour. For most Italian dishes, this soft-wheat flour creates a delicate texture that's easy to bite through. Double zero is perfect for the light, pillowy texture you want for gnocchi.
This vegan gnocchi recipe only requires three ingredients: Potatoes: I used Yukon Gold potatoes here, but you can also use russet potatoes if that's all that you can find in your stores! Flour: I recommend using Tipo 00 or oat flour (if you're gluten-free, use oat flour!).
Traditionally, gnocchi dough is made of semolina or plain wheat flour, egg, and mashed potato. That being said, gnocchi ingredients may vary, with the additional ingredients or substitutions including cheese, vegetables, and herbs.
Grano duro is slightly yellow, more granular, and more commonly used for pasta and some breads in the south of Italy. It's also knows as durum wheat flour. Grano tenero is generally what we think of as white flour, and is more broadly used in bread, pizza, and pastry, and northern pasta doughs.
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