Channeling a Little Italian Grandma

A few weeks ago I assisted in a Gnocchi 101 class at the cooking school and ever since then I've been dying to try and make the little potato dumplings myself. The chef made it seem so easy, but having eaten my weight in chewy, disappointing gnocchi over the years, I had serious doubts that I could produce anything edible on my first try.

Pan of uncooked gnocchi

Now I'm not saying that Mario Batali would be impressed with the results, but they got a thumbs up from the husband and I thought they were pretty darn good. Not even a little bit chewy. I pan seared half the batch and boiled the other half and served both with a basil pesto. The boiled batch didn't hold it's shape as well as the pan seared, and I think that may have been due to not using enough flour, though I'm not sure. I'll have to let you know after the next attempt.

The key to gnocchi that is light and fluffy, says Chef Tom, is two-fold. First, prep the potatoes in the food mill as soon as you can handle them out of the oven. The more time the potato has to cool down, the more the texture will change. Second, handle the dough as little as possible - just until it comes together and not a second longer. The recipe is below in case you want to try this simple, delicious, and very rewarding meal. Buon Appetito!

Potato Gnocchi (from Chef Tom Hughes)
1 lb. russet or yukon gold potatoes
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, etc.)
1/4 cup olive oil
Tools: food mill or potato ricer, bench scraper, fork for rolling gnocchi

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat potatoes in olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for one hour or until soft.
2. Cut potatoes and scoop out the insides and then push the inside of the potatoes through a food mill or potato ricer.
3. On a floured cutting board, pour the potato, eggs, salt, and pepper and 1/2 cup of the flour.
4. Using a bench scraper, cut the pile of ingredients until the mixture begins to come together. Add more flour as needed so you can easily handle the ball of dough.
5. Roll the dough into a snake and using the bench scraper, cut the snake into 1-inch nuggets. Roll them lengthwise off the end of the fork to give them proper shape.
6. At this point you can freeze your gnocchi for up to a month, or cook them in boiling water until they just begin to float. Remove from water and toss with sauce.
7. If you wish to pan saute them, add olive oil to medium high pan, add gnocchi and cook for a few minutes on each side until lightly browned. Then toss with sauce.