Day 56: Gnocchi (A Recipe)

Gnocchi are delicious pillows of deliciousness covered in tasty sauce. Okay, actually they're a type of flour/potato dumpling, usually with a tomato and cheese sauce. If made correctly, gnocchi, despite the potato quality, is a light dish.

However, gnocchi can be a finicky dish to make.

Let me tell you about the first time I tried to make gnocchi. It was with a friend in Milan and we followed the directions to the letter. Instead of coming out with delicious gnocchi, we came out with mash. Potato mash. Yeah, it was good, but it was definitely not what we had been aiming to make.

So, while here, I mentioned to my host mum that I wanted learn how to make them. And she took me under her wing and taught me.

Ingredients (for six servings):
7 medium-sized unpeeled baking potatoes (like russet or Idaho)
flour (about 400 g; you convert it)
nutmeg
salt
2 small eggs or 1 large egg
(if you want your gnocchi to be extra-fancy, you can add spinach or squash to the dough)
(also, sauce: tomato and cheese, pesto, four cheese, butter and sage...your decision)

Directions:

1. Set some water to boiling. When it's roiling, throw those (unpeeled) potatoes in. Yeah. Let them sit there for a while. Let them get comfortable. Once they're soft, take those suckers out. Give them some time to cool their heads and then peel them. (Use a hand towel of some sort if they're burning your fingers.)

2. Throw that flour on the counter. Make a well in it. Using a potato ricer, rice those potatoes into that flour. (IMPORTANT: Make sure your potatoes are still carrying some heat. Warm potatoes make better gnocchi.) Throw some salt and a pinch of nutmeg on top of this mess. Then add the eggs (along with whatever fancy spinach squash inside you want).

3. Smush and smash this mess together until you get a dough. Don't try to handle it too much, or the dough will get rubbery. (Gross.) Once it's a nice piece of dough, cut into smaller pieces. You're going to roll these smaller pieces out into long serpent-like tubes. Cut the end off the long tube. Keep doing that until the long tube. There. Now you got yourself some gnocchi. Do this to the rest of your dough. Sprinkle your gnocchi with a little flour. (These pieces can sit out for up to three hours or can be frozen; be a planner and make ahead of time!)

4. Once you want to make this delicious slice of paradise, get some more water boiling. Deposit your gnocchi carefully into the boiling water. The gnocchi will sink to the bottom, but they'll start to float. When they do that, they're ready for eating so get them out of there.

5. Put on plate. Cover with sauce of choosing. Eat and enjoy.