Today’s easy potato gnocchi recipe is just perfect for a weeknight dinner, especially if you’ve cooked up a tomato sauce in advance. This recipe, much like our pasta recipes, pairs well with our Best Ever Tomato Sauce!
Why Potatoes?
When it comes to making this dough, it’s important to remember that gnocchi is thought to be more of a dumpling dough than pasta or bread dough. This is why we only knead it lightly. The dough itself is largely made from potatoes. Potatoes are such a versatile vegetable, as well as being affordable, accessible and quite easy to grow yourself too! I think it’s great to have a few potato-based recipes up your sleeve, so check out our Vegan Hash Browns, Potato and Spinach Soup, as well as our 5 a day Pizza recipes!
What can I expect from Gnocchi?
I’ve pre-cooked the potatoes in the oven to remove moisture. This also helps to create a perfectly soft, light and fluffy gnocchi. The texture of gnocchi is particularly important to avoid any instances of it sticking to the roof of your mouth whilst eating them. I can’t stand it when that happens because it means that the gnocchi is too stodgy! I’ve made plenty of mistakes over the years but I do believe I’ve got it right with this recipe.
I’ve used a gnocchi board to create that trademark shell-like texture, but you can also use a fork instead. Read on to find out the method for both ways. The tiny ridges that are created really help to pick up any sauce that you choose to accompany the gnocchi. As with any dough-based recipe, kids, as well as anyone looking to develop their culinary skills, will really enjoy making this from scratch! Do let us know how you all get on!
This recipe is pretty simple! If you’re like me, and are in need of quick dinners, then you can partially cook the gnocchi, freeze them for later, and defrost when needed. Enjoy!
You can find all my other quarantine cooking here on our blog. You can also watch a step-by-step video guide over on our Instagram. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn to vote on any recipes, keep up to date with our #FoodWasteFridays series and our blog posts on naturally nourishing souper foods!
Easy Potato Gnocchi
Equipment
- Large Bowl
- Sieve
- Spoon
- Potato Ricer (optional)
- Bench Scraper (optional)
- Gnocchi Board or Fork
Ingredients
- 4 Medium White Potatoes pre-cooked
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 70-250 g Semolina or Plain Flour
To Serve
- Pasta Sauce (Optional)
Instructions
- Pre-cook the potatoes by roasting them in the oven at 220°C/425°F for 45 mins to 1 hour. Allow them to cool fully before starting on the next step.
- Remove the potatoes from their skin and press through a sieve using a spoon or clean hands. Alternatively a potato ricer can work just as well.
- Tip the potato mixture out onto a clean work surface. The potato might be quite tacky at this point.
- Create a well in the middle of the mixture.
- Add the oil and salt to the well.
- Depending on the variety of potato you’ve used, you want to add enough semolina or plain flour to form a smooth dough. If you’re unsure of how much flour to add, it’s best to add a small quantity first and then add more as you go along, if need be. The texture you’re looking for is a pliable, non-sticky dough that’s not too dry.
- Using a bench scraper or your hands, bring the mixture together to form a dough by folding the sides of the mixture over and into the well. If the dough is a bit too dry and this point, add some extra oil to help bind the ingredients together.
- Then, lightly knead the dough together using your hands for around 2 minutes or until the dough comes together smoothly. Shape into a round ball.
- Chop a slice from the dough ball and set aside and cover the rest of the mixture.
- Roll out the segment into a 2cm thick log and, using a bench scraper or knife, chop into thumbnail-sized dumplings - this part is oddly satisfying!
- Add a sprinkling of flour to coat the chopped gnocchi. Roll out the dumplings into circular shapes using the palm of your hands. Set them aside in some spare flour as you work on creating more gnocchi. Lightly roll the gnocchi dumplings in the flour to prevent them from sticking together.
- If you’re using a gnocchi board, start at the top of the dumpling and carefully roll each gnocco down the board and over your thumb to score it with the pattern. This step is optional but does create the classic gnocchi shape!
- You can also score the dumplings by using a fork if you do not have a gnocchi board. The process is just the same as above: carefully roll each gnoccho down the tines of the fork and over your thumb to achieve the trademark shell effect. While you are scoring the dumplings, make sure to keep all the gnocchi well-floured to avoid them sticking together. More flour is better than less as they stick together incredibly quickly.
To Cook the Gnocchi
- Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil and drop in the gnocchi. Boil until they begin to float, which should take around 2-3 minutes.
- Reheat your pasta sauce of preference – check out our Best Ever Tomato sauce recipe - toss the cooked gnocchi in the sauce and enjoy!