Making classic gnocchi from scratch is so satisfying: once you master these plump little bites, you won’t ever buy them from the store again!
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Having been in Italy for two weeks, it has been a bit difficult to keep up with the competition in Project Food Blog, away from home and without access to a kitchen for half of my trip. In case I would participate in the 4th challenge, I paid attention to the food around me in Rome, and tried to find what I would be able to make in my miniscule Trastevere apartment. After seeing it served as a primi piatti in countless restaurants, I decided I would make gnocchi from scratch.
The great thing about gnocchi is that they’re made with few ingredients: potatoes, flour, eggs, olive oil, salt. They also require no special equipment. You can make a large quantity of gnocchi for a few dollars and roll them pretty much anywhere, as I found out when I made a batch on my apartment’s wooden bedside table.
My kitchen in Rome (minus the bedside table).
Although making gnocchi from scratch is easy, it’s also easy to fail. Too much liquid and your gnocchi will be gummy; too much flour and they’ll be dense and heavy on the stomach. When perfect, homemade gnocchi are light and plump.
Gnocchi are lovely served with a variety of different sauces, from a simple fresh tomato to a slowly simmered meat ragù. They’re also delicious au gratin, mixed with a cheesy white sauce and broiled in the oven. Use your imagination! You’ll be so proud that you made your own that I’m sure you’ll find them delicious any way you serve them.
My gnocchi, as I served them in Rome: sauteed in butter and olive oil, with pesto, sprinkled with parmigiano-reggiano, accompanied by a fresh-from-the-market side salad.
If I succeeded in making a delicious dinner in such limited conditions, you can certainly do the same at home! Here’s the walkthrough to making gnocchi from scratch.
Based on Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino’s tried-and-true family recipe.
Makes enough for 6 to 8 servings.
1 kg (2.2 lbs) russet potatoes (about 5 large), unpeeled
300 g (1 ½ cups) all-purpose flour
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Wash your potatoes thoroughly without peeling them. Boiling them unpeeled lessens the water that penetrates the potatoes while they’re cooking. Water is a gnocchi downfall. This is also why you must use the exact cooking time. Avoid piercing them during cooking as it’ll allow water to get in. Small potatoes take 10–15 minutes to boil; medium 20–25 minutes; large 35–45 minutes. If you’re unsure about your cooking time, boil one extra potato that you’ll use to test.
Cooked and peeled potatoes.
Once your potatoes are done, drain them and let them cool until you can handle them. Peel the potatoes and mash them into a large bowl: the tool that will help you breeze through this step is a potato ricer. It guarantees lump-free gnocchi. If you don’t have a ricer, mash your potatoes with a fork (like I did) or a potato masher. Pay extra attention to make sure you eliminate as many lumps as possible.
Let the mashed potatoes cool to room temperature.
Mashing potatoes with a fork, until no lumps remain.
Mix flour and salt together in a small bowl. Mix the mashed potatoes with the egg yolks and olive oil. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the potatoes and mix gently until the flour is moistened and the dough looks crumbly.
Mixing the ingredients together until the flour is moistened and the dough looks crumbly.
Lightly flour your work surface. Put your dough on the surface. Knead it gently to incorporate the flour: press on the dough with your hands, fold it in half, turn it by a quarter turn and press it again. You should do this for about 1 minute: over-kneading is another gnocchi downfall. It leads to a tough, rubbery texture.
Kneading the dough using both hands for about 1 minute.
After kneading, your dough should feel soft and smooth. If it sticks to your work surface, sprinkle a bit more flour — but keep in mind that you must limit the amount of flour you add to the gnocchi to make sure they don’t become heavy and dense.
When the dough is ready, put it in a bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel.
Kneaded gnocchi dough, ready to be rolled into bites.
Clean your work surface, dry it thoroughly and sprinkle lightly with flour. Tear off a lemon-sized piece of dough and roll it into a rope (about 3/4 in. diameter). Use a knife to cut out square bites.
Gnocchi dough ropes, cut into squares.
Now you have two choices: leave your gnocchi plain, looking like miniature pillows, or indent them using a gnocchi board or a fork.
Leaving them plain is a good choice when you want to fry them in butter, or serve them with a classic brown butter (see this recipe). I really like the crunchy texture it renders, a nice contrast to the creamy interior.
Plain pillow-looking gnocchi.
Indenting gnocchi is ideal when you want to serve them with a sauce, because the pattern allows it to better cling to the pasta.
To indent gnocchi, you can use either a gnocchi board or a fork. Pick up one piece of dough and use your thumb you gently roll it over the gnocchi board or the back of the fork to create grooves in the dough. Repeat to roll all the gnocchi. As you roll, transfer them to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet in a single layer, making sure they don’t touch. Gnocchi are best cooked within 2–3 hours of being made (keep at room temperature).
Watch this 30-second video to see how to roll gnocchi using either a gnocchi board or the back of a fork:
My dough was a day old when I filmed this video so it was firmer than usual. When the dough is fresh, the gnocchi needs just a soft press to be indented.
Two kinds of gnocchi side by side: rolled on a special board, and rolled on a fork.
Gnocchi are best cooked within 2–3 hours of being made (keep at room temperature).
To freeze: put the gnocchi on the baking sheets straight into the freezer. Once hard, transfer them to freezer bags in portion sizes. They’ll keep for two months.
Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Put about 12–15 gnocchi into the water at once and wait until they come back to the surface. When they do, they’re ready. Don’t turn your back on them because it takes just two minutes! Use a slotted spoon to fish them out, put them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to keep them warm. Repeat the process until all the gnocchi are cooked.
Tell me how you liked it! Leave a comment or take a picture and tag it with @foodnouveau on Instagram.
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Author: Marie Asselin
Love your content! Very impressed with the knowledge you have. I am a professional chef and this is something that i would actually cook in this way, is a great article. Very good photos and explanation. I have started my own Blog aswell and i think i will come back often to find some inspiration, keep up the great work!
Thanks for this recipe! I’ve used it quite a few times now, and the gnocchi always comes out really well!
This recipe was amazing. I followed the directions and used 4 potatoes as mine were more like extra-large! I then put the gnocci in an Italian Sausage Soup. It was delicious! Thank you so much for the clear directions. I would have voted for you too!
Happy the recipe worked out for you Mary. I love the idea of throwing fluffy gnocchi in a soup. I’ll make sure to try that!
As I told you before I live in Mexico. The only potatoes I see here are white rose or red skin. I make potatoes in Microwave. I wrap them in a damp paper towel. We have incredible types of sweet potatoes. Some are white as snow, others almost fusha, and all colores yellow to orange. I hear they make great gnocchi. I’ve never tried to make gnocchi do you know about white rose potatoes or sweet potatoes?
You never state how many this recipe feeds….
The recipe makes enough gnocchi for 6 to 8 servings. (I updated the recipe to add the info–thanks for the notice!)
I was googling for gnocchi recipes and found many. Yours, however, had GREAT photography and so I went with your recipe last night. Stellar! Thank you so much. It will be my contribution to this year’s Thanksgiving.
Rudy
Thanks for the break-down. You have no idea how much help this was, video and all. Your awesome!
Thank you! Happy the video and instructions helped.
This recipe was great! Thank you! I tried making gnocchi for the first time last night and was very pleased! The video on how to roll them with a fork was really helpful too. I just changed two things: I baked the potatoes instead of boiling them and used a fine cheese grater to grate the hot potatoes instead of mashing them. Yum, yum!
i love it
i cant wait to make it
I just came across your gnocchi recipe & instructions. Had I come across it earlier, I would have voted for you. I’m getting ready to make gnocchi for the first time (and use a gnocchi board for the first time). I have a basic recipe but not very clear instructions from one of my cookbooks. We have two kinds of potatoes from the garden but neither are russet. I think they are new reds and new Yukon golds. I guess I’ll find out how they work for gnocchi. Can’t wait! I’ll definitely come back to your site. Your instructions are clear & concise. Thank you!
Always been afraid of making gnocchi until your post. Thank youuu you make it look so easy.