Gnocchi (Potato Pasta)
Known as pasta pillows in our house, this potato pasta or gnocchi is a simple fresh pasta easily made at home. Because of the ridges and the slight curling of the pasta, it perfectly traps your favorite sauce!
Gnocchi taste (by itself): seasoned potato, generally bland
Gnocchi taste (with sauce): delightfully accentuates the sauce
Gnocchi texture: soft, plump pillows of joy
This week’s supper challenge is primary colors – red, yellow and blue. Since I wanted to cook all the colors into the same dish, incorporating blue without turning this into a dessert was a challenge indeed. I present, a tumeric gnocchi in a tomato sauce garnished with Stilton blue cheese. Add 1 teaspoon of tumeric to the gnocchi dough, and yellow is covered with an interesting flavor addition.
Gnocchi (Potato Pasta)
Equipment
- Large Pot
- Cheese Grater with Large Holes
- Fork
- Large Bowl
Ingredients
Gnocchi
- 2 lbs russet potatoes russets are preferred because they fluff compared to other potato starches
- 1 egg
- ¾ cup + more to sprinkle on counter and parchment sheet flour
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 L water
- 2 teaspoons table salt
Sauce Option 1:
- 2 cups tomato based pasta sauce
- 1 medium onion sliced thin
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bunch of kale deribbed, sliced thin
- Garnish
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese or blue cheese crumbles
Instructions
Gnocchi Pasta
- Peel potatoes and cook in microwave in heatproof dish with plastic wrap across the top for 10 minutes or until soft when pierced in the middle with a fork.
- Discard plastic wrap and allow potatoes to cool for 10 minutes.
- Using a large holes on a cheese grater, grate the cooked potatoes on a parchment laid pan. If potatoes are still hot to touch, allow to continue to cool another 5-10 minutes.
- Pour grated potatoes into a large bowl, mix in egg. Keep parchment laid pan handy.
- Lightly sprinkle flour onto parchment pan and set aside.
- Sprinkle flour and salt onto potato mixture and mix.
- Lightly flour counter and roll out potato mixture from bowl onto the counter. Knead into potato dough. Will stick together but break apart if pulled (gluten has not quite formed to make the dough stretchy).
- Cut into about 8 even pieces.
- Roll each piece into ½” or ¾” potato ropes onto floured surface. Cut the dough ropes into ¾ inch pieces.
- Using the back of a fork, roll each piece of dough across the tines. The dough will curl against the edge of the fork and create ridges to trap the sauce onto the gnocchi.
- Place ridged gnocchi onto floured parchment.
- Form and roll the rest of the gnocchi.
Sauce
- Meanwhile on medium heat, in a sauce pan, caramelize onions and garlic.
- Cook kale until vibrant green, about 60 seconds, and turn.
- Add pasta sauce to saucepan to warm and keep pan on low heat or set aside.
Cook Gnocchi
- Boil 2 litres of water in large pot with salt.
- Meanwhile, prepare or warm sauce in large saucepan.
- When boiling, lift parchment sheet off pan and slide gnocchi into boiling water.
- After 60-90 seconds when all the gnocchi floats to the top of the boiling water, the gnocchi is cooked.
- Strain water from large pot or pour gnocchi into large strainer.
- Pour gnocchi into warm sauce, gently toss to coat. Serve immediately.