When I started my post-college-married life, one thing that really startled me was the price of some of my favorite grocery items. I don't mind spending extra cash on good, quality ingredients, but some things are so much easier on the wallet if you make them at home rather than buy them in the store. While this isn't true for all things (ever try making homemade angel food cake? Don't. Buy the boxed mix and preserve your sanity), one thing that will never be in my grocery basket again is gnocchi.
Gnocchi are those delicious little puff balls in your endless soup bowl at Olive Garden, the pasta-y/potato-y comfort food of the Italians. So good, and so worth the homemade effort. Here's how...
Ingredients:
- 1 pound of starchy potatoes
- 1/2 cup flour plus a little extra
- 1 egg
- Salt
Step One: Peel and boill the potatoes in salt water for about 45 minutes. Allow them to cool and mash 'em up with whatever utensil you have. Place them on a cutting board or counter with some sprinkled flour underneath, put the remaining ingredients on top.
It will look like this-
Step Two: Roll up those sleeves and get to kneading. As you're forming the dough it might seem kind of sticky, and it's okay to add a little extra flour if you experience this. Add the flour a tablespoon at a time. Avoid using too much flour or it will make your gnocchi tough.
It's going to take some time to incorporate all of the ingredients together, but eventually you'll end up with a dough ball like this.
Step Three: once your dough is formed, cut it into smaller pieces and form long ropes.
Step Four: Cut those dough ropes into pieces about a 1/2 inch long. They will look like little pillows (Google told me that gnocchi actually means pillow in Italian...fancy that)
Step Five: boil some water or broth (I usually use chicken broth) and throw your little gnocchis in a small batch at a time (15 or so, to avoid them sticking together). When they float, they're done! Use a slotted spoon to rescue them from the water and set aside.
Below are some examples of how I've used gnocchi in my kitchen. The first is a sweet potato version with bacon and parmesean. The second is a homemade spin on Olive Garden's chicken & gnocchi soup (do I smell a recipe for that coming in the future?)
Happy cooking, happy eating!