Today we’re preparing from-scratch Potato Gnocchi. Don’t wince, this isn’t as hard as you might think, and the payoff is an absolutely delicious. Satisfying and versatile, potato gnocchi are ‘petite potato dumplings’ that pair deliciously with both white sauce and red sauce, as well as plain garlic and oil.

However, we’re topping today’s gnocchi with a fresh tomato and wine sauce, featuring capers and anchovies (optional, but highly recommended).

Romancing the Gnocchi – Pointers and Pitfalls

Making gnocchi takes a fair bit of patience and a fair bit of proper technique. This is one of those recipes where if the ‘little things’ go wrong, the fallout is huge later on. The difference in kneading just a minute or two too long can result in rubbery gnocchi, or where just a bit too much flour results in dense gnocchi, while not enough results in gnocchi that literally fall apart.

1) You Need to Knead By Hand. Not spoons, not a dough hook, not gloved hands. Kneading gnocchi dough simply needs to be done the old-fashioned way. Keep in mind that the dough ‘will’ stick to things – including your hands. As such, the kneading process ‘will’ be a bit messy. However, for a proper gnocchi, there simply isn’t any way to get around this.

2) You Need to Knead as Little as Possible. The kneading process shouldn’t take more than three minutes. You want to incorporate the ingredients of the dough until you have a smooth, yet sticky, dough – and that’s it. The way you want to do this is to form a ‘well’ out of the mashed potatoes. Into that well you add the eggs, salt, and pepper, and then began kneading to incorporate those ingredients. As you do this, you add the flour and grating cheese, and continue adding flour throughout the kneading process until you have a smooth and sticky dough. The longer you knead, the more flour it will take to achieve this desired consistency and stickiness. However, the more flour you add, the heavier your gnocchi dough will become. The heavier the dough, the denser (and likely drier and more rubbery) the cooked gnocchi will be – which is ‘not’ what you want. You want plush, moist gnocchi. However, too little flour and no amount of egg will be able to bind your potato gnocchi together, instead they will simply fall apart.

3) Flour is Your Friend (in the right quantity). Flour comes into play in two places in this recipe, the first is in the dough itself (what we just talked about in point two), the second is in ‘forming’ the gnocchi from that dough – and that second phase is what we’re talking about here. After the dough has been kneaded and formed into a loaf, you want to begin the process of cutting the loaf a single piece at time. It doesn’t really matter how big a piece you cut – as long it’s something you can work with. However, you want to do this with dry, floured hands, and you want to work with the dough on a floured surface when forming your gnocchi. Again, while you want the dough to be sticky, you want the dough to be ‘sticking’ to as little as possible – and flour helps mitigate this. However, even here, you want to be careful to balance that concern against adding too much ‘ambient flour’ to the gnocchi during this final forming process. Flour is weight, and weightier dough leads to a denser gnocchi.

Beyond Potatoes – Gnocchi is more of a ‘Shape’ than a ‘Thing’

Gnocchi are ubiquitous throughout Italy (to varying degrees in varying regions) – and are thoroughly represented within Italian immigrant cuisine. You would be hard pressed to find a Italian American restaurant that doesn’t offer them. As such, gnocchi ‘must’ be a particular thing, right? Yes, but not quite.

The reality is that many Italians (especially in Italy) will have different ideas of ‘what’ gnocchi actually ‘is.’

Growing up, I only ever knew gnocchi as ‘petite potato dumplings’ that my mother would form by hand from mashed potatoes and eggs. These vaguely bowtie shaped, bitesize potato dumplings (potato noodles?) were then either boiled in (thoroughly) salted water, or fried in olive oil…or both (boiled and then pan fried), depending on how we were eating them.

However, gnocchi are also wheat noodles. They are also made from semolina flour. Other Italians prefer breadcrumb gnocchi (yes, I didn’t even know that was a thing until a few years ago). Still others make their gnocchi from cornmeal. Gnocchi made from these ingredients are certainly ‘not’ petite potato dumplings.

Needless to say, there is a ‘vast’ difference in flavor and texture between a cornmeal gnocchi and a potato gnocchi, and an equally stark difference between a potato gnocchi and a semolina gnocchi. Wheat gnocchi tend to be the ‘in between’ of the group.

So, if your grandmother didn’t prepare hers ‘quite’ the way I’m preparing mine today, or if you’ve only ever eaten cornmeal gnocchi, or if you swear by the wheat gnocchi at your favorite Italian restaurant, join the club. There’s no ‘right way’ when it comes to the different types of gnocchi.

They’re all gnocchi.

More Italian Favorites from Living the Gourmet

1) Ravioli. My favorite twist on a beloved classic, these homemade ravioli are blissfully simple to prepare, but the real draw here is the delicious mix of asiago, ricotta, mozzarella, and romano, coupled with a fresh red sauce, plenty of garlic, and fresh spinach.

2) Homemade Pasta. If you’re feeling adventurous, homemade pasta enhances ‘any’ pasta dish, from basic garlic an oil to ‘alla vodka.’

3) Meatballs with Rasins and Pignoli Nuts. My absolute favorite meatball recipe of all time. Moist, flavorful, and versatile, well able to accompany pasta or to prepare a meatball sandwich, or even to eat on their own.

Potato Gnocchi with Red Anchovy Sauce

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• Author: Living the Gourmet
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x

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Ingredients

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For the gnocchi:

• 3 cups of mashed potatoes
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese - grated
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs. olive oil

For the sauce:

• 1 pint of tomatoes
• 1 small red onion - sliced thin
• 4 - 5 garlic cloves - crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 2 tbs. butter
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. capers
• 2 oz. can of anchovies in olive oil
• 2 small lemon wedges
• 1/4 cup wine

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Instructions

For the gnocchi:

1. Place 3 cups of mashed potatoes in a large bowl.
2. Add the flour, salt, fresh ground black pepper and olive oil and mix together.
3. Add the eggs and grated cheese and thoroughly mix together.
4. Dust a clean surface with flour and gently knead for a minute or two, 12 – 15 times.
5. Shape the dough into a loaf and place on a floured surface.
6. Cutting off one piece of dough at a time, roll on a very lightly floured surface into a cord about ¾ inch thick.
7. Cut the cord into 1-inch lengths. Roll each piece and gently press with a fork.
8. Set the gnocchi aside on a lightly floured sheet pan.
9. Prepare a pot of salted water to a low boil.
10. Cook for about 4 – 5 minutes, until they return to the surface of the water.
11. Lift out of the water with a slotted or netted spoon, draining well.
12. Place the cooked gnocchi on a sheet pan.

For the sauce:

1. Heat a large cast iron pan with the butter and olive oil.
2. When the butter is melted and gently simmering add the garlic, onion and tomatoes.
3. Simmer on a gentle heat.
4. Add the bay leaf, lemon wedges, capers, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes. Continue to simmer on a gentle heat for a minute or two.
5. Add the wine and continue to simmer on a gentle heat for a minute or two.
6. Add the anchovies (I add the oil from the anchovies as well) and mash with a fork.
7. Continue to simmer gently for another minute or two.
8. Spoon the gnocchi into the sauce and gently toss.
9. Serve with fresh grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 1

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