GNOCCHI DI PATATE

POTATO GNOCCHI

Potato gnocchi are a speciality of northern Italy, specifically of Veneto. When I was a child, I loved making them with my mother. I remember her saying to me: ‘The best gnocchi are home-made gnocchi!’ I can confirm this is the case! Gnocchi need to be made just before serving. If you wait too long to eat them, they no longer have the same texture.

SERVES 6 PREPARATION TIME: 50 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 45 MINUTES

1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) potatoes, for mashing

300 g (10¹/₂ oz/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

1 egg

2 pinches of freshly grated nutmeg

3 pinches of salt

Wash the potatoes and steam them for 40 minutes or boil in salted water. Peel and mash the potatoes directly on a floured work surface, then let them cool a little. Flour your hands, make a well in the mashed potato and put three-quarters of the flour, the egg, nutmeg and salt in the middle. Mix from the middle outwards and add more flour if necessary: the mixture should be smooth and pliable. With floured hands, make 1.5 cm (⁵/₈ inch) thick sausages and cut these into 2 cm (³/₄ inch) pieces. You can roll the pieces on the back of a floured parmesan grater, pressing them with your fingertips to make ridges. Place the gnocchi on a floured cloth.

Bring a large quantity of salted water to the boil and add the gnocchi in two batches. As soon as they rise to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon. Toss the gnocchi in the sauce of your choice.

RECOMMENDATION

If you don’t eat the gnocchi right away, I suggest you precook them, refreshing them under cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain and oil the gnocchi and then you can refrigerate them for 24 hours. To reheat them, you just need to drop them into boiling water again or sauté them in a frying pan in a fairly liquid sauce.