How to Make Gnocchi

Making your own gnocchi couldn’t be simpler and all it takes is a few ingredients. For starters, they’re not pasta but small dumplings. However, they can be served up like pasta as a first course, in soup or a nice accompaniment for a main course. Any pasta sauce works but they seem to be best either with really strongly flavoured sauces or at the other extreme, drizzled with olive oil and dredged with parmesan.

Most people buy ready-made gnocchi from the grocer and delicatessen. We suggest making your own! They are simple to make.

Northern Italy is probably where you find the best gnocchi. A very simple gnocchi relies on potato and flour all bound together with either whole egg or just the egg yolk. Some folks use just flour and egg but adding potato always gives gnocchi a lighter, more floury texture.   

Which Flour To Use?

The best flour to use is Tipo ’00’ which is one of the hardest available and is highly authentic. If that is not available then other hard flavours are used but they make a softer texture. Other types of gnocchi make use of semolina with the all purpose flour because it changes the texture by making these dumplings firmer. 

Which Potatoes To Use? 

Choice of potato is important as these need to be a floury type. You can try varieties like King Edwards, Desiree, Alfred Bartlett, British Queens etc. You can also add chopped herbs like parsley and mint which change the colour to pale green and add an additional flavour.

Gordon Ramsay also suggests it’s a way to use up left over baked potatoes too which makes gnocchi a great way of being thrifty. We look at how these pre-cooked potatoes could be incorporated because for any student returning to accommodation, its the type of resourcefulness that helps make ends meet.

Any other additions?

Well chefs like to include all sorts of additional ingredients to make the ricotta special. Gordon Ramsey adds ricotta cheese for example because it makes the gnocchi taste richer. Always add some salt and pepper because gnocchi is usually very bland without it.

Cooking Gnocchi

 Most gnocchi is poached not boiled in a saucepan of slightly salted, barley simmering water. The exception is the oven-baked gnocchi all romana. Gnocchi is dropped in batches into the water and cooked for roughly 5 minutes. It usually tells you its done when it rises to the surface. Just scoop out with a ladle, drain and keep warm whilst you deal with the remainder.

Gordon Ramsay actually fries his gnocchi after having simmered them as per usual, which adds another texture of crispiness and flavour. The choice is yours however. The frying element at the end also means additional veg can be added such as peas and more herbs. It just makes for a really simple dinner.

In this article we describe a recipe for making a simple potato and flour version which most people make. You have the option of adding semolina flour. You also have the option of using whisked egg or just the egg yolk.  

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Equipment:

• glass bowls
• a 3-pt heavy bottomed and enamelled saucepans, stainless steel pans or copper-lined saucepan.
• mouli
• ricer
• wooden spatula or spoon

Gnocchi Ingredients (potato and flour only):

• 2 – 3 potatoes (500-600g/1¼-1½lb) always a floury type not waxy. These could also be left-over baked potatoes too.
• 2 cups/300g of all-purpose, plain flour or better still ’00’ Tipo flour – make sure it’s sieved to removed lumps
• 1 egg – whisked up or just the yolk 
• A pinch of salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon – herbs like chopped thyme leaves -and include the tips of the thyme flowers too if there are any (optional). 
• Olive oil for the saucepan of boiling simmering water.
• 100g semolina flour (for more “advanced” gnocchi). 

In some cases you could make a variant by adding a small amount of chopped parsley or perhaps some mint. Between 2 and 4 tbsp should do it.  Adding a small amount of salt and ground black pepper also help with flavour. Gnocchi is great for building up layers of flavour so try and experiment with this.

Preparation of Gnocchi:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

   Peel potatoes and add to pot. Cook until tender but still firm, about 15 to 30 minutes. The level of cooking depends on the freshness and variety of potato used.  You can also cook potatoes with their skin and peel afterwards. Drain the boiled potatoes and allow to cool down.

   If you are using a couple of baked potatoes, prepare these as you normally would and allow to cool, cut in half and scoop out the flesh of the potato with a spoon. As we said earlier, left-over baked potatoes are excellent in making gnocchi.

   Mash whatever potato flesh with a fork or if its easier, use a potato masher. Alternatively put them through a mouli or ricer. The hotter the potato the easier it is to mash. All the mashed potato should be in a bowl.

2. Combine 1 cup/150g of mashed potato, flour, (semolina), salt and pepper  into a large bowl. Make a well in the flour add the whisked egg.  At first, mix the dough in with a fork. Add some chopped herbs if you want at this point.
3. Flour your hands generously. Knead by flattening and folding until the dough forms a ball. You can add some water or even egg white to make it more liquid because it can get dry.
4. Cut the dough ball in half. Again flour your hands and roll into a tube. The mixture might seem to get wetter at this point but don’t add any more flour. 
5. Shape small portions of the dough into long rolls. Add flour to your knife so the gnocchi dough doesn’t stick.  On a floured surface, cut these rolls into half-inch bite-sized pieces. Put the tines of a fork onto the gnocchi pieces to just increase surface area through the indentations. I actually dimple the pieces with the tip of my index finger.
6. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add a few drops of olive oil. 
7. Drop the gnocchi in and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until this gnocchi has risen to the top; drain by picking up with a slotted spoon and placing the gnocchi on a clean folded cloth to drain and serve.

Fried Gnocchi – An Add On From Gordon Ramsay

Ingredients:

• handful of fresh garden peas
• 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• zest and juice from 1 lemon
• salt and black pepper – freshly ground
• grated parmesan

1. If you want you can also fry the gnocchi after having simmered and boiled them. The way to do this is to get a frying pan/skillet nice and hot. Add a tablespoon of olive oil. Gently lift out the gnocchi from the simmering water with a slatted spoon. Let them drain. Place straight into the hot pan.
2. As they fry, sprinkle on some fresh black pepper. You can also add a handful or two of fresh garden peas and fresh thyme, and a knob of butter otherwise go straight to the sauce. Grate some lemon zest and 1 or 2 teaspoons of lemon juice to the frying gnocchi.
3. Let them brown nicely all over.
4. Serve on a warm plate and grate over some fresh parmesan to almost smother it. 

Sauces

We are also going to make a parsley and chilli butter sauce because gnocchi goes very well with all sorts of sauces. It’s probably best with the freshly boiled gnocchi but I’m sure it works equally well on fried gnocchi with the peas.

Chilli And Parsley Butter Sauce

• 110g butter
• 1/4 tsp chilli flakes or 1 fresh red or green chilli but finely sliced.
• 2 tbsp finely chopped curly or flat-leaf parsley.

The sauce is made the following way:

Melt the butter and when it foams add the chili and cook for about a minute. Then add the finely chopped parsley. Serve with the freshly cooked gnocchi.

Finally, add some grated parmesan just to finish it all off.