I love preparing the gnocchi with my son Rumi. We always have a lot of fun making pasta and gnocchi at home. I hope you enjoy making them with your loved ones and the dish brings you some joy in these difficult days.

Recipe for 4 people

Tips before you start cooking Gnocchi:

Old potatoes and potatoes with lots of starch are the best for gnocchi.
Less flour you use better the gnocchi.
It’s better to cook the potatoes whole and with their skin. Or like Italian grandmothers you can also steam them (always whole and with their skin) or cook them in the oven at 150C.
If you cut the potatoes in small pieces or peel them, potatoes will soak more water and water is the enemy of the gnocchi!
If after boiling, the potatoes are still wet, dry them in the 100C preheated oven for 5-10 minutes.
Do not over work the gnocchi dough. Be quick and gentle.
You need a potato presser, a plastic bag to wrap the gnocchi dough in it, a fork or a gnocchi board to shape the gnocchi, trays covered with flour to place the shaped gnocchi on them and a big pot to boil the gnocchi.

You can always write to me here on Instagram or down here in the comments, if there is anything I can help you with.

Ingredients:

1 kg potato with skin
250 g Tipo “00” flour or all purpose flour + for dusting
a good pinch of salt

Method:

Wash and clean the potatoes, place them in a large pot and bring them to boil. Boil them until cook though but slightly “al dente” in the middle. (about 15 minutes depends on the potatoes.)
Drain, and set aside for 2-3 minutes, then peel them. Be careful, they might be very hot.
While they’re still warm, use a potato presser to press them on a clean surface (kitchen counter or a table were you can work the dough).
Pour the salt and 2/3 of the flour on top of the pressed potatoes and gently start mixing the flour with potatoes. Be gentle and try to work the dough until it comes together. Wrap it in a plastic bag to prevent it from drying.
Cut small pieces and roll it into ring finger-nail thick cylinders (1cm thick) on a lightly floured surface, again working lightly and quickly. (keep the surface well floured).
Cut the ring finger-nail thick cylinders into small pieces (1.5x2cm). Some people don’t bother to shape and pattern them, but just cook them as they are. However, the shaping and patterning gives a hollow on one side and a pattern on the other that enables the sauce to cling better, and also makes each piece recognisable as a gnocco (a single gnocchi).
If using a gnocchi board, slightly flour it while rolling and shaping the gnocchi. Otherwise roll the gnocchi in a little flour, hold them lightly, shape each piece into a gnocchi by holding them against the prongs of the back of a fork. Pressing only firmly enough to get the imprint (not so firmly that they go through the prongs). Then guide each one so it tumbles away from the fork and also use your thumb as a guide and your fingers to pick and curl the gnocchi up. Place them on a large floured board for later. (watch my Instagram highlights)
If you are going to have the gnocchi right away, prepare the sauce in advance. After rolling and shaping all the gnocchi, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Space is a key here so work with few gnocchi at a time. Drop some into the water and let them cook for about 2 minutes or when you see them on surface, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon. Mix them with your sauce right away, while continuing with boiling the rest of the gnocchi. Add the rest in the sauce, coat with the sauce and serve.
If you are going to keep them for the day after. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil but also prepare a large bowl of ice water and another tray or bowl coated with extra virgin olive oil. After cooking the gnocchi in boiling water, scoop them out with a slotted spoon and transfer them directly into the ice water- after 5 minutes, transfer them into the greased bowl, stir gently so the don’t stick to each other. Cover and keep it in the fridge for later use.