Gnocchi, soft potato and flour pillows

Potato gnocchi

Gnocchi has been a revered Sunday lunch time dish since I can remember, my mum would be there kneading, rolling, cutting and twirling until the dough board was full and her back would be hurting from hunching over the table. We knew it was going to be a special lunch because gnocchi represented a special occasion, reverence

Good home made gnocchi can only be achieved by choosing the right potatoes. The wrong choice of potato can lead to the gnocchi collapsing while cooking. The only choice is the Desiree variety. It is a good boiling potato and has a very velvety consistency when mashed and kneaded

Ingredients

1 kg of mashed potatoes

500 gr of flour

1 egg yolk

Nutmeg

A good pinch of salt

Method

Put the potatoes with their skin on in a pot of abundant water and bring to the boil. Cook until tender. Do not test the potatoes too often by puncturing with a fork or a skewer as they will be come water logged.

Once cooked drain them and pull off the skin while still hot, puree the potatoes through a food mill and place on to a work surface or your kneading board.

Add most of the flour to the potatoes add the egg yolk, nutmeg and salt and knead until a smooth mixture is reached. The perfect dough should be soft and smooth.

Dust the work surface with flour. Divide the dough into 3 to 4 parts and shape them into a sausage type roll not too thick.

Remember to always dust your hand with flour when working with gnocchi.

Once you have rolled the dough into about 2 cm thick. Cut the sausage type roll with a knife about 2 cm in length as well.

To Shape the Gnocchi

The hardest thing to do is to shape the gnocchi. You will do this by holding a fork with the concave side up. And you flip the cut pieces against the prongs of the fork. This motion will give the gnocchi a side with ridges and the one side a little concave this will enable a quicker cooking process and a tender gnocchi.

Cooking method

To cook the gnocchi bring 5-6 litres of water to a boil and salt. Before adding the entire batch, add two or three gnocchi and taste them about 45 seconds after emerging to the top. If a little floury, cook for another 30 seconds this should be ample time for the perfect gnocchi.

Buon Appetito

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