Home-made Gnocchi

This is a staple recipe in our household. Its quick and easy and tastes divine :-) It was only hard the first time I made it, when I had no idea what I was doing and used a garlic press to puree the potatoes LOL. Now I know what I’m doing, its easy peasy.

We either use this with an organic tomato pasta sauce for us with lots of added vegies (which we blanche quickly with the gnocchi) & organic cheese or with a lentil vegie pasta sauce that we make for Little B.

The two important things in a gnocchi recipe are having the right kind of potatoes, -they need to be floury. And using the right amount of flour – too much and they become stodgy, too little and they disintegrate in the water when they are cooking.

I prefer Sebago potatoes. I find desiree are too time consuming to peel by hand. This recipe I adapted from a recipe at www.taste.com.au

Fresh uncooked home-made gnocchi

4 x organic desiree or Sebago potatoes, unpeeled

1 and 1/3 cup organic plain flour

-  Place potatoes in saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over a high heat. Cook for 20-25 minutes (depending on size of potatoes). Drain well and set aside until cool enough to handle.

-  While still hot, peel by hand and discard the skins. Using sieve or potato ricer, puree potatoes into bowl. Cool slightly.

-  Add flour to the potatoes, then use hands to knead briefly until a soft dough forms.

- Cut into 4 equal pieces. Using your hands, gently roll each piece to form a log 2cm wide. Cut lengths of 1.5cm. You can run one side of gnocchi over the tines of a fork (this pattern helps the sauce to stick – but I sometimes skip this step and hasn’t made a difference that I can see).

-  Add to boiling water. Once the gnocchi has floated to the surface, let them cook for approx 10 secs. Drain well.

-  Add sauce and serve.