How To Make Gnocchi
Making gnocchi from scratch is much less complicated than it seems. You only need 2 ingredients: potatoes and flour.
Would you like to know the secrets to make perfect gnocchi?
1) It’s very important to choose the right type of potato. You need a potato that is starchy, with a floury texture and minimum water content like Russet and Désirée potatoes.
2) Boil the potatoes in their skin and don’t pierce them during cooking otherwise they will absorb too much water.
3) Use a potato ricer to mash them (do not use a food processor) when they are still hot. There is no need to peel them as the skin will remain inside the potato ricer.
4) Use only enough flour to bring the dough together. It should be firm but slightly sticky.
5) Don’t overwork the dough or you will get dense and heavy gnocchi.
These little dumplings are very versatile and can be served with different sauces: butter and sage, gorgonzola and walnuts, bolognese sauce, pesto or a classic tomato sauce.
Gnocchi freeze very well. Spread them in a single layer on a floured baking sheet so they don’t stick together. Put the baking sheet into the freezer for 1 hour. Once frozen, put the gnocchi into a freezer bag. To cook them, just drop the frozen gnocchi directly in the boiling water without defrosting.
Gnocchi cook in a flash, be ready to scoop them out with a slotted spoon as soon as they float to the surface.
How To Make It: How To Make Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs. (1 Kg) russet or desiree potatoes
- 3 cups minus 1 tablespoon (350 g) all-purpose flour plus extra for the board
- Your favorite sauce (pesto simple tomato, butter and sage, whatever takes your fancy)
- Semolina flour to dust the trays/baking sheets
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes (don’t peel them!) and place them in a saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil.
- Cook for about 20 minutes after the water has come to a boil.
- Put the flour on a work surface.
- While the potatoes are still hot, mash them with a potato ricer and add them to the flour.
- Work the flour into the potato until it becomes a soft, pliable dough (if the dough is too soft add more flour).
- Roll out the dough into logs about 2 cm (3/4 inch) thick and cut them into pieces.
- You can either cook them this way or create the distinctive ridges.
- Place the gnocchi at the top of the fork tines and gently press down, rolling it across the fork with your thumb. It will be slightly curled with the indentations on the opposite side.
- Arrange the gnocchi on a tray dusted with semolina flour.
- To cook the gnocchi, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and add the gnocchi. As soon as the gnocchi start floating, they are ready ( usually it takes 2 or 3 minutes).
- Remove them with a slotted spoon and put them in the pan with the sauce of your choice. Mix well and serve.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Just tried it and it worked out great. I will get a potato ricer though. There are some chunks remaining using a potato masher. Regardless, we just cooked them in butter with herbs and salt and they were amazing.Â
They have nothing to do with the ones you find in stores and that are super dry and contain more flour. These are soft and sweet and just perfect. Will make more!
So glad you liked this recipe, Delphine! :)
Hi Elena!
Can these be added straight into a soup/hotpot to cook there (ie. if I use store bought gnocchi, I don’t boil it first, I just add it straight to the hotpot, and it cooks in that – can I do that with these, or should I boil them first?)
Thank you :)
Hi Michelle! You can add them to the soup without boiling them first. :)
Hi Roberto!
I don’t understand what yeast the flour will start… there is no yeast in this recipe…. :)
Gnocchi fall apart when you don’t add enough flour.
Can you make these ahead of time, maybe about 3 hours before I want to use them
Yes, you can make them ahead of time and keep them in the freezer. Then you just cook them straight from the freezer.
Do I try to peel the skin off before I mash them if I don’t have a ricer?Â
Yes :)
Can these be frozen? If so at what point?
Form the gnocchi then put them on a tray thinly coated with flour. Transfer the tray to the freezer, for about 45 minutes. Once the gnocchi are frozen, place them in a zip lock bag and store in the freezer. When you want to use them, put the frozen gnocchi in the boiling water, no need to let them defrost first.
I am so excited to try this recipe. Do I have to buy the Semolina flour?
Sharon, you can use flour. Let me know how it goes! :)
So we shouldn’t peel the potatoes after they’re cooked? I’m going to make this recipe today so hopefully you’ll get this comment! :-)
Usually the skin will remain inside the potato ricer but you can peel them if you wish or if you are not sure it will work :)
If I mash potatoes with a potatoe masher do I peel them?
I didn’t, the peel stayed inside the potato masher. :)
Fantastic blog/website.. Would this recipe work with Sweet Potato
Thank you Chris! :)
Yes, you can use sweet potatoes (although I haven’t tried yet).
From what I read on Italian blogs, you might need less flour (for 1.3 Kg/2.8 lb of potatoes 360 grams/3 cups of flour). Start with 3/4 of the flour, and add more only if you need it, until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough. Let me know if you try it!
I’ve made them with sweet potatoes and used a sage/brown butter to drizzle them with, and they were amazing. My ingredients were the same as above.
The sage/brown butter sounds delicious! :)
Would roasted potatoes work? Less moisture that way.
Yes, Amy! That would be perfect
I’M from Italy, So I used to do this often with my mom and family as a child in Italy.I love gnocchi.I need to try this again soon. When my sister and family came to MIAMI Florida’s to visit me a few years back,she made gnocchi and taught my oldest daughter how to make them. I didn’t teach here yet by then!! Shame on me…Fantastic recipe, Just like the original!!
Thank you Adriana! I also used to make gnocchi with my mother :)
Can I use gluten free flour? Which do you recommend?
Brittany, you can use rice flour :)
What if you don’t have a potato ricer?
Hi Christine! If you don’t have a potato ricer use a potato masher, a food mill or a fork :)
Thanks!
I love making gnocchi but never have success! Definitely need to follow your recipe.. hopefully mine look as perfect as yours!
Let me know if you try this recipe :)