Full Belly Farm. Those three little words make my stomach rumble. When I saw some of their beautiful golden potatoes the other day, I brought some home, even though I wasn’t sure how I would use them. The new issue of Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine was in the kitchen, and my daughter pointed out a recipe for Simple Potato Gnocchi and suggested that we could make them together over the weekend. Ah-ha – problem solved!
My daughter doesn’t like lumpy potatoes and I wondered how I would get my cooked potatoes smooth enough for this recipe. It called for a “ricer” which I didn’t have in my cooking arsenal – but luckily, my 89 year old grandmother had one that she didn’t use any more. No wonder – it was fairly difficult to squeeze, even for my daughter and my middle-aged-self. But it was well worth the muscle we put into it because the potatoes were smooth as a… well, you get the idea.
It was the perfect time to dust off the 50 mm camera lens (that I bought over 6 months ago but have been too intimidated to use) and give it a go. It was well worth the effort – the gnocchi was delicious and the shots came out better than I had expected.
Simple Potato Gnocchi
Adapted from Everyday Food Magazine, September 2010
2.5 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
coarse salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
- In a large pot, bring the potatoes to a boil in salted water. (I cut mine in quarters first to reduce cooking time.)
- Cook until potatoes are tender.
- Lightly dust two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets with flour and set aside.
- Drain potatoes and immediately pass them through a ricer onto a work surface. Cool completely.
- Sprinkle potatoes with flour and salt. Top with the egg.
- Work the flour and egg into the dough with clean hands.
- Knead the dough until smooth, but not elastic, dusting with flour if it becomes too sticky.
- Divide the dough into 8 portions.
- Roll each portion into a rope, 1/2 inch wide and 24 inches long.
- Cut each rope into 1/2 inch pieces.
- If you want to make them pretty, roll each piece of dough against the back of the tines of a fork to make ridges.
- Put the uncooked gnocchi onto your prepared baking sheets.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. In batches, add a few handfuls gnocchi and cook until they have floated to the surface (about 2 minutes).
- With a wire-mesh spider or slotted spoon, transfer gnocchi to a sauce (we used home-made pesto).
- You can freeze raw gnocchi on baking sheets until firm. Transfer to freezer bags and store for up to 1 month. Thaw at room temperature on parchment lined sheets for 30 minutes before boiling.
ooh, I love gnocchi and even though I’ve wanted to make it with my kids, we haven’t found the time yet. I first learned how easy it is to make when I was at a cooking school in Florence (gosh, 10+ yrs ago!).
What a fun dish to make with kids. Thanks for reminding me of that!
Great photos, Michelle! Gnocchi is a great recipe to do with kids, I agree. And so crazy delicious. Reminded me that I had tried the homemade version myself not that long ago (though it has been over a year. I have to share my gnocchi pics with you! (Scroll down to bottom of post):
http://thecalmbeforethestork.com/2009/07/05/it-takes-more-than-one-day-for-me-to-turn-40/
Definitely am inspired to make them again.
Julie
Wow Julie – I can only hope my 40th birthday is as nice! I adore pedicures
Somehow, they aren’t quite the same when an 8 or 10 year old is doing them for me! Your gnocchi looks good, too 
Geez – my chickens are squawking up a storm today. I hope your girls are doing well!
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