Denise’s Gnocchi

Living with friends for the month of September was great for my cooking! It not only gave me a break from the routine of having to get something on the table every night, it exposed me to many new dishes that I would never have thought to make. Gnocchi was one of them.

I’ve only had gnocchi a couple of times at restaurants. I guess I assumed you’d have to find some kind of specialty potato flour and exotic spices to make it taste authentic and that there was a lot of skill involved, probably passed down generation after generation.

I’m pretty fearless in the kitchen, but I don’t think it ever would have occurred to me to try this dish had I not seen my lovely friend Denise make it. That would have been a shame because it turned out to be simple and delicious! She’s given me permission to share it here with you. Thanks, D!

Ingredients:

6 baking potatoes
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup flour

Directions:

Bake or microwave potatoes w/skins on until soft. Halve and mash the insides while still warm. Discard skins.
Make a mound on a clean surface with the mashed potatoes and make an indentation in the center (think volcano).
Place the next 5 ingredients into the indentation of your potato mound as shown in the photo below – she’s making a double batch, fyi.

Use your hands to squish everything together, working the eggs and spices thoroughly through the potatoes.
Add the flour and continue to work until you have a workable dough. Add more flour if it sticks too your hands too badly.
On a floured surface, roll the dough into 1/2 inch thick “ropes” a little at a time, and cut each rope into 1 inch sections. Take each dumpling and roll it along the backside of a fork as shown in the photo below if you want it to have that signature ridged shell shape, then put it in a bowl to “rest” while you cut more.

Boil dumplings in a saucepot of water a small batch at a time until they rise to the surface and have been floating for about a minute. Drain well.

Serve plain, with cheese, tomato sauce, etc. The dish above is topped with mushrooms and pine nuts sauteed in butter. It was amazing!!