Gnocchi recipe

[Moggle]

Made my own gnocchi on the weekend with a River Cafe recipe:

Recipe:

Serves 6

1kg floury potatoes
Salt and pepper
2 large eggs
150g plain flour
100g semolina

Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water. Drain and peel while hot.
Put the potatoes through a mouli or mash. Lightly fold in the eggs, flour semolina and salt and work together to form a dough.

Divide the dough in to four, and roll each piece in to a sausage shape a little fatter than your index finger. Cut in to 2cm pieces. Roll each small piece over the back of a fork.

Cook in boiling salted water until they rise to the surface

My notes on the recipe:

I used pasta flour instead of semolina.
I made half this recipe (one egg) and it did 4 servings - I find gnocchi quite filling.
I put half the dough in the fridge (as a 'lump') and the texture had somehow changed by the next evening - it had got softer. I kneaded in a little flour and rolled and shaped them and they were still good, although not quite as nice as the first night.
I cooked them in two batches and just left the first batch drained in a bowl. They seemed to hold their heat for the few minutes it took to do the next batch.
I served them with some tomato and yellow pepper sauce and loads of parmesean and they were delish.

[Moggle]

[sally_cinnamon]

Hey there Moggle,
Glad to see that someone else had given gnocchi a go - and even nicer to see that it can actually work!  I've followed a couple of recipes for gnocchi, one with potato and another using semolina, and neither exactly inspired me to make it again.  I do love gnocchi and wish I could make it as good as the local Italian restaurant...  I think I'll give you River Cafe recipe a go next week - did you let the potatoes dry off before mashing?  I found when I did it the "dough" (more like mush in my case!) was quite wet and also when I cooked them, it was like they hadn't had enough time to cook out the flour and I could taste it still.    :-\

[jennym]

This recipe really appeals, never though about making gnocchi myself, it sounds a good substantial vegetarian dish - wonder if it would freeze successfully?

[Hyacinth]

Sally, yes, you dry off the potatoes first (or drain them really thoroughly)

Jenny, believe they freeze OK...save some back when you make it and try?

I really don't like gnocchi...something to do with the texture when you start eating them :( - but OH used to love them & I made them reasonably frequently - dead easy, they were......remember a sauce using chicken livers....could try to dig it out of anyone's interested.

btw..Aldi sell packs of shrink-wrapped gnocchi - really cheaply. They're OK too (with, always, the proviso that you really do like gnocchi) ;D ;D ;D

[Moggle]

I think I'll give you River Cafe recipe a go next week - did you let the potatoes dry off before mashing?  I found when I did it the "dough" (more like mush in my case!) was quite wet and also when I cooked them.

Hiya Sally. My dough was 'squidgier' than I would have thought when i first made it - like a squashy bread dough - but when they were cooked they were nice and light.
I'm sure if you freezed them flat on a tray they'd be fine.

I really like the sainsburys ones too, but we don't live near a sainsburys any more, and I'm generally just trying to get in to cooking more and cut out the amount of pre-made stuff we have. OH makes our pasta as well from scratch - papardelle usually.

More veggie sauce options would be pesto, alfredo, tomato and cream/marscapone, mushroom (if you like em, I don't!). I used to love them with tomato and bacon sauce, and they go nicely with bolognese too, although I find that combination a bit heavy.

[Svea]

i have also made some from an italian cook book - the first night we had them as gnocci with home made pesto - the second night i reheated them to eat with some sauce, and on the third night i fried them lightly and severed with a big dollop of ketchup as a lazy dish :D

they are filling, like you said, hence it took us three days to eat it all.

they very much reminded me of german 'kloesse' of a kind my grandmother makes from boiled potatos and the same ingredients - no surprises there then