Easy Homemade Gnocchi

Serves:4

I love making homemade gnocchi. I find it very therapeutic. These are like soft pillows of heaven and they pair beautifully with any kind of pasta sauce. I personally prefer to serve these with pesto and cream, or with burnt butter and sage sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1kg Russett potatoes but Desiree potatoes will be ok
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 200g-300g 00 flour sifted

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°c. Salt and oil the potatoes and bake them whole for about 45 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool enough for you to handle them. Alternatively, place potatoes in a saucepan and fill with water and cover. Bring to the boil over a high heat. Once boiling, reduce to a medium heat and continue to cook till soft which will take about 25-30 minutes. Drain the potatoes and set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.
3. When potatoes are cool enough to handle but still warm, peel them and pass through a potato ricer or food mill into a large bowl. Add a pinch of salt, add the egg, 200g of the flour and gently mix through. Add additional flour only as needed until the dough is very soft but cohesive.
4. Roll the dough lightly onto a floured surface and add a little more flour if it’s still sticky. Divide the dough into 4 portions and lightly roll the dough into sausages, but be careful not to overwork the dough.
5. Cut into bite sized pieces and place onto floured tray. This part is optional, if you have a gnocchi board (or you could use the back of a fork) use your thumb to flick the gnocchi into little ridged shapes.
6. Place the gnocchi in batches into the boiling water. Cook until the gnocchi floats to the top, this means they’re done (this only takes about 60 seconds).

Note: The 00 flour is a finer flour which makes for a lighter dough, and doesn’t allow for as much moisture to be absorbed.

Don’t knead your gnocchi too much as they’ll become tough. Try and gently move it into shape using your finger tip.