Gnocchi di Patate Fatti in Casa

About This Recipe

Gnocchi di patate are the most romantic of Italian dumplings — pillowy little potato pillows boiled briefly, then tossed with a simple butter-sage sauce, melted Gorgonzola, or a deeply reduced ragu. The technique is unforgiving: too much flour and they're leaden; too little and they dissolve in the water; wet potatoes make wet dough; over-worked dough makes gummy gnocchi. Italian grandmothers know within a single touch whether the dough is right. The secret is baking the potatoes (not boiling), ricing them while still warm, working the dough as little as humanly possible, and erring on the side of less flour. Made well, they're so light they nearly float off the plate. Originated in Northern Italy in the 16th century after potatoes arrived from the New World; today every region has its variant.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 kgstarchy potatoes (Russet, Maris Piper, or Désirée)
• 1 largeegg yolk (some traditions skip the egg entirely)
• 180-220 g00 flour or plain flour (less is better)
• 1 tspfine salt
• 1 good gratingfresh nutmeg
• 80 gunsalted butter
• 12 leavesfresh sage
• 60 gParmigiano-Reggiano, finely grated
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. 1

   Bake the potatoes

   Prick potatoes all over with a fork. Bake at 200°C for 60 minutes, until completely tender. Do NOT boil — boiled potatoes absorb water that ruins the dough.

2. 2

   Rice while warm

   Halve potatoes lengthwise (carefully — they're hot). Scoop out the flesh. Pass through a potato ricer or food mill into a wide pile on a clean work surface. Let cool 5 minutes — just enough to handle, but still warm.

3. 3

   Add flour and egg carefully

   Sprinkle 1 tsp salt and nutmeg over the potato. Add egg yolk. Sprinkle on 150 g of the flour. Using a bench scraper (not your hands), gently fold the flour in just until incorporated. Add 30 g more flour if the dough is too sticky to handle. Stop adding flour the moment the dough can be gathered into a ball.

4. 4

   Test one

   Pinch off a marble of dough, roll into a ball, drop into salted simmering water. If it floats within 60 seconds and holds together, the dough is right. If it falls apart, add 20 g more flour; if it's chewy, you've added too much (start over).

5. 5

   Shape the gnocchi

   Cut the dough into 6 pieces. Roll each into a long 2 cm-thick rope on a floured surface. Cut each rope into 2 cm pillows. Optional: roll each pillow gently down the back of a fork to create ridges that catch sauce. Lay on a floured tray, not touching.

6. 6

   Cook in batches

   Bring a wide pot of well-salted water to a gentle simmer (not a hard boil — they break). Drop in 20 gnocchi at a time. They sink, then float. From the moment they float, cook 30 seconds more. Lift out with a slotted spoon.

7. 7

   Make the sage butter

   Melt butter in a wide pan over medium heat until foaming and faintly nutty. Add sage leaves; they should sizzle and crisp in 30 seconds.

8. 8

   Marry and serve

   Slide drained gnocchi into the sage butter. Toss gently — never aggressively or they break. Add a splash of pasta water if dry. Spoon onto warm plates. Shower with Parmesan and pepper. Eat immediately — gnocchi don't wait.

Variations

• •

  Gnocchi al Gorgonzola: toss in a sauce of melted Gorgonzola dolce + a splash of cream + walnuts.

• •

  Gnocchi al ragu: toss with a deeply reduced beef-and-tomato ragu.

• •

  Spinach gnocchi (gnudi): replace half the potato with finely chopped cooked spinach, squeezed very dry.

Storage

Freeze raw on trays then bag up to 2 months. Cook from frozen with 1 extra minute. Cooked gnocchi don't keep — eat immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions