Fluffy, light, potato gnocchi! Yes, I have finally attempted this well-known, sought-after little pillow of fluffiness! That is often paired with a creamy sauce, tomato sauce, or pan-fried until crispy. This is the base to making your own potato gnocchi where the sky is the limit to pairing!
Fluffy Potato Gnocchi Recipe
After reading a ton of books, and skimming through the web for “how to make fluffy potato gnocchi, here it is. There are so many ways, so many methods that people swear by and I’m really happy with how this one turned out.
So, let’s get into it!
Essential Tools
With making potato gnocchi, I highly recommend a food scale. After looking and looking, I found a great ratio of Food And Wine.
1 pound of cooked riced potato to 1 cup of flour.
Potato Preparation
I baked my potatoes and loved the outcome, but you are more than likely to boil them. There are some that prefer Yukon Golds over Russets, so next time I will try it with the Yukon Golds and see the difference. For every pound of potato, I used 1 lightly whisked egg, to sprinkle on top of the dough.
Once the potato is cooked, the key is to rice while still hot! Be careful, because I learned the hard way, but hold the potato in a towel as you peel it. Much more forgiving on your fingers.
Dough Preparation
Once this is done, it is important to evenly spread the riced potato out, so that the moisture evaporates. Also, avoid mashers or food mills, your goal is to achieve tiny little bits of riced potato. Once it has cooled for a bit, sprinkle over your flour, salt, and egg. If you don’t have a bench scrapper, you can just use your hands, but the key is to be very gentle! You do not want the dough to be overworked.
I made a quick simple tomato sauce with fresh rosemary and some grated parmesan–recipe below!
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Cooked gnocchi (recipe below)
- 2 tomatoes roughly chopped
- salt & pepper
- gnocchi cooking liquid (flavored starchy liquid!)
- 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced.
- grated parmesan cheese, (as much as you desire!)
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add gnocchi, cooking liquid, and fresh rosemary. Saute for 2-3 more minutes, add parmesan and serve!
Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- 2 pounds russet potatoes
- 1 egg whisked
- 1 cup finely milled flour Tipo 00 is preferred, but all-purpose flour can be used.
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly grated parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat over to 400 degrees. Roast potatoes until tender, about an hour and a half.
- Let the potatoes cool for a bit. Using a towel (to not burn your fingers!) peel the potatoes and break them in half. Weigh potatoes. You want for every pound of cooked potatoes, 1 cup of flour, and one egg, whisked.
- Once weighed, rice potatoes evenly out on top of your work area. Evenly sprinkle salt, 3/4 of flour, and egg over riced potatoes.
- Gently, work dough with a bench scraper or hands, until formed into a ball. Sprinkle the rest of the flour over the dough if needed. Or when rolled.
- Cut dough into 4 pieces and on a floured surface, roll dough into a 3/4-inch-thick rope. Cut and roll each piece on a gnocchi board or on a fork to make the ridges. Transfer to a baking sheet.
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and place gnocchi in. Once they float to the top they are done.
- If not used, they can be frozen for up to a month.