04 Sep potato gnocci

Making gnocchi takes a lot of persistence and patience (both of which I don’t usually have) but had to find to perfect this recipe. Gnocchi is perfect to make because it uses common pantry/kitchen items (potatoes, flour and eggs), which means it doesn’t require a crazy run-around at Woolies or Pick n’ Pay to find its ingredients. However, making it does require some labour and quite a lot of your time.

This recipe is not like my usual because it is not easy to make (trust me, it took 3 attempts), it is not a quick recipe and it not very healthy. BUT what I can assure you is that once you’ve perfected it, you can make a lot of delicious recipes. Gnocchi is sometimes used as substitute for pasta and makes for an ideal comfort meal when made with the correct sauce or meat. It has a dumpling-like texture which makes it perfect to hold on to any thick sauce you choose to make it with.

My favourites sauces to have with gnocchi are creamy basil pesto, bolognaise or a cream sauce with mushrooms, bacon and spinach. But gnocchi is quite versatile, so you can pretty much make it with any sauce that you like or any sauce you usually have with your favourite pasta. If time consuming and laborious recipes are not for you, then you can just pop into your grocery store and buy a ready-made pack of gnocchi that just needs to be boiled for a couple of minutes and thrown into your sauce. But if you have the time and persistence, try out this recipe for gnocchi.

Potato Gnocchi recipe

Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 potatoes
• 4 cups of flour
• 2 large eggs

Method:

1. Boil a pot of a salted water and your peeled potatoes. Cook until potatoes are tender but still firm (about 15 minutes).
2. Drain the potatoes and mash them.
3. Combine the mashed potatoes and the remaining ingredients into a bowl and knead the dough into a ball shape. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and let rest for 10 minutes
4. Cut the ball into 4 pizza slice shaped pieces and roll each piece into a long bread stick/snake shape.
5. Flour the surface you’re working on and cut each long ‘roll’ into small pieces about 1cm-1cm ½ long. If you want, you can use a fork to create a graze on the gnocchi (this can help with holding the sauce you use)
6. Bring a large pot of salt water to the boil and add all your gnocchi. Cook for about 3-6 minutes or until the gnocchi has risen to the top. Drain the water and serve with your desired sauce.