I remember it well. A little Italian restaurant, a hankering to try something new--this was my first experience with the divine potato pasta that is gnocchi. The restaurant's owner brought my plate out himself, and teased about his "sweet Italian mama" slaving away in the back to make perfect little gnocchi pillows. From the first bite, it was heaven--satisfying, but fluffy and smooth and light. I went back for more at every opportunity, but sadly the restaurant eventually closed and I was on my own.
I tried to make gnocchi at home several times, which led only to potato goo and tears. Then I started buying pre-packaged gnocchi, but they were dense and rubbery and never quite as good as the ones made by the sweet Italian mama--just enough to hold my gnocchi cravings at bay, while never fully satisfying them.
Before this past weekend, nothing made me feel more unskilled and less deserving of your readership than gnocchi, which was a damned shame because it’s probably my favorite pasta in the entire world. After reading countless accounts by others about what a “cinch” gnocchi is to make and how you will “never buy it frozen again,” I tried to make it about a year ago and it was a complete and total disaster. I am not mincing words.
....
But last week, I saw a technique on About.com that was so cunningly ingenious, I was unable to resist trying again. Get this: you grate the potatoes. No food mill or ricer purchase required! (Which is great because you don’t have room for one anyway!) After grating the baked and peeled potatoes, you knead in some flour, salt and an egg, and your dough is complete! And people, these are some killer gnocchi, with a lightness that I’ve only had before at top-notch Italian restaurants. The secret is to use as little flour as you need, and with this method, you’ll need a lot less. I haven’t quite mastered the little shapes you make with a fork, but rest assured that this has no effect on the final dish.
Encouraged by Deb--and then necessitated by the fact that my grocery store happened to be out of pre-packaged gnocchi--last weekend I decided to give myself one more shot at making gnocchi from scratch. Using Deb's directions--baking the potatoes and grating them with a box grater, using as little flour as possible--the result was...a serious and complete success!
Truly, I danced around my kitchen as if I'd just invented fire, and giggled with glee at every bite. They were smooth, they were light, they were fluffy....they were perfection! My shaping could use a little practice, but towards the end I even started to get the hang of that--you kind of have to flick them off the end of the fork.
Yay! Yay! Yay!!!
I mixed them in with some shroomies, sage, and chicken stock for a sauce--a recipe from Jaime Oliver's
Cook With Jamie. Oh my lordy, everyone you
have to try this!
Onward for the recipe!
Gnocchi
2 pounds Russet potatoes
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Preheat your oven to 400°. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, and bake them on a baking sheet for 45 minutes to one hour, or until they are fork-tender. For best results, turn the potatoes over halfway through the baking time. Let the potatoes cool slightly.
Peel the potatoes, and then pass them through a potato ricer, food mill or grate them over the large holes of a box grater into a large bowl. Add the lightly beaten egg and the salt to the potatoes and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Add the flour to the potatoes a little at a time, using only as much as you need so that the dough will not stick to your hands. When the flour has been incorporated, bring the dough together with your fingertips.
Dump the dough and any remaining floury bits onto a slightly floured surface. Knead the dough as you would bread dough. Press down and away with the heel of your hand, fold the dough over, make a quarter turn, and repeat the process. Knead for about three or four minutes.
Form the dough into a ball and then divide it into 6 smaller balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the six pieces using your fingertips into a long rope about 3/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces.
You can cook the gnocchi as it is now, but traditional gnocchi has ridges. To create the ridges, press each piece of dough against the tines of a fork. With your finger, gently roll the pressed dough back off the fork. This takes a little practice. If you find the dough sticking to the fork, dip the fork in flour before you press the dough against it.
Place the gnocchi in a single layer on a lightly floured or parchment-lined dish. If you’d like to freeze them for later use, do so on this tray and once they are frozen, drop them into a freezer bag. This ensures that you won’t have one enormous gnocchi mass when you are ready to cook them.
To cook the gnocchi, place them into a pot of boiling and well-salted water. After a few minutes the gnocchi will float to the top. Continue to cook for one minute then remove and set aside.
