Description
Making gnocchi is probably the easiest pasta you can make at home. It requires minimal equipment and only 3 ingredients! Making these from home will give you more bang for your buck. It is way cheaper than buying the packaged stuff from the stores. Grab your friends or family to help you make these with you. It’s fun to make and even better to eat!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1.5 lb (740g) – russet potatoes (approximately 3 medium potatoes)
- 1 ½ – 2 cups (192g-256g) – all-purpose flour, sifted (plus more for dusting)
- 1 ½ teaspoon – sea salt
Equipment:
- Box grater or potato ricer https://amzn.to/3i5PyDP (I used a food grater) See notes
- Paring knife
- Rubber gloves
- 2 rimmed baking sheets
- Bench scraper or sharp knife
- Fork or
Instructions
- Preheat the oven for 375° F. Meanwhile, poke the potatoes all over with a fork.
- Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and bake them for 1 hour.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven. You should be able to pierce the center of the potato easily with a knife.
- Next, take your rubber gloves, a clean dish towel, and a paring knife. Carefully remove the skins from the potatoes.
- While they are still hot, grate the potatoes using the smallest holes over a baking sheet, or use a potato ricer. Spread it over the baking sheet.
- Allow the grated potatoes to cool down, uncovered, for a little bit. It should still be pretty warm, and you are able to touch it without burning your bare hands.
- Add the salt and a ½ cup of flour to the potatoes. Use clean hands to work the ingredients together and squeezing in between your fingers. While gradually adding flour until it comes together. (It will be extremely sticky at first! But don’t worry, just continue on with the recipe)
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface and gently start kneading it into a smooth cohesive ball. It should be soft, pillowy, and only slightly sticky. (You might not need all the flour that is listed above).
- Cut the dough into 6 pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll it out into an even 1-inch thick rope. Cut the ropes into 1-inch thick pillows. After you have cut all the dough into smaller pieces, you can either leave them as cute pillows or shape them.
- For a classic gnocchi shape, press down against the tines of a fork using your thumb down and across the fork. If at anytime the dough becomes sticky, just add a little bit more flour.
- Once all of the dough has been cut and shaped, place onto a baking sheet covered with flour. Make sure they are not touching each other, or they will stick together.
- For non-immediate use, leave the gnocchi on the baking sheet and place them in the freezer until they have hardened completely, about 4-5 hours, or even overnight. Then scrape them off, place them in a bag, and back into the freezer.
- To cook the gnocchi, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the desired amount of gnocchi to the pot and cook until it starts floats to the surface. Drain and cook with your favorite sauce recipe. (Cook frozen gnocchi the same way, do not defrost them) Enjoy!
Notes
- Floury potatoes work well because they keep their shape after being cooked, which is important for well-formed gnocchi. Which is why russets are the best for this.
- If you don’t have a box grater or a potato ricer, you can use a potato masher. Just make sure it is completely smooth, no chunks.
- Do not over-knead the dough, it will get too gummy. Knead until it comes together and is soft and only slightly sticky.
- Do not add too much flour, it will get too tough. Just add enough once it comes together.
- Shake off excess flour before boiling!
Keywords: vegan, vegan recipe, italian recipe, italian, pasta, gnocchi, vegan gnocchi, homemade pasta, vegan pasta
