Gnocchi and a sauce you shouldn’t try

Years ago I was watching Mario Batali roll Gnocchi dough down a fork. What was Gnocchi? Potato Pasta? (As a semi-Norwegian person we grew up eating Lefse, potato flatbread, so I knew it would be yummy). I had never heard of it before, wasn’t completely sure what it was but made a mental note to try it sometime in my life. This past year I finally did. About 6 times. It is has the most addicting, dense texture. I have had sweet potato gnocchi, butternut squash gnocchi, plain and rosemary. All with delectable sauces. I was hooked. This weekend I decided to try to tackle it.

I made a slight adaption to Mario Batalli’s recipe. See source here. I should have used his sauce, I say with a slight sob. I tried to make a Gorgonzola, Goat Cheese cream sauce. What? I’m watching my figure. It was not good with this recipe. Please don’t try it. Thankfully I saved PLENTY of the Gnocchi in the freezer. Next time I will be smarter. The recipe also recommends you use a potato ricer or vegetable mill which I don’t have. I was pretty confident in my mashed potato silkiness skills and thought I could pull through. They really do need to be VERY smooth with no chunks. I had chunks. It still tasted great but it made the dough more challenging to work with.

I wanted to add a little nutmeg to the dough. Not enough so that people would be like, “Woah, who invited nutmeg to the party?” More for just a subtle little sump’n sump’n. The gnocchi itself turned out great, flavor-wise. I still need to practice my rolling/flicking technique. Next time it will be sweet potato gnocchi.

Source: Mario Batali on the Food Network

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 pounds russet potatoes
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 extra large egg
• Pinch salt
• 2 tspn ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:

1. Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks
2. Boil the potatoes until soft
3. Mash with a vegetable mill or potato masher
4. Pour potatoes on a floured surface, pour flour over the top
5. Make a well in the top of the mixture and add egg, salt and nutmeg
6. Start mixing it all together with your hands
7. Continue kneading for 4-5 minutes until a nice sticky dough forms
8. Roll into tennis ball sized balls
9. Roll each ball into a 3/4″ log and cut 1″ sections
10. Roll each section into a ball
11. Roll your gnocchi down a fork (click here to watch tutorial)
12. Boil until gnocchi floats then strain. It cooks quickly
13. Cover with sauce of your choice

NOTE: If you don’t use all of this gnocchi in one sitting, and I doubt you will…just freeze it! Lay your gnocchi in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer. Once frozen, put your goods into freezer safe containers and store.