Homemade Gnocchi

Marie's Note:

I have not tried this recipe yet, but I intend to soon. According to the article, that came with the recipe in this morning's local newspaper, these gnocchi are light as a feather. The recipe comes from a former fine dining establishment in our area that we used to go to very often and the food was outstanding! I am guessing at the prep and cook times.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 large baking potato (1 c mashed)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 8 teaspoons butter, clarified
• 1 cup romano cheese, grated
• 3 cups flour

Directions:

1. Boil potato and mash.
2. Combine potato with eggs and salt and whip until fluffy.
3. Add ricotta cheese, butter, Romano cheese and flour.
4. Knead until smooth.
5. Shape into 1/2" rolls and cut into 1" lengths.
6. Make impression with thumb in each piece, then lightly dust with flour.
7. Drop into boiling salted water and cook only until they rise to the surface.
8. Drain and serve with tomato sauce and grated cheese.
9. Note: Before cooking, gnocchi may be flash frozen on a cookie sheet, then place in plastic bag in freezer.

Reviews

[npsmama]

Wonderful! My 2 year old eats these straight from the colander! I used ghee instead of clarified butter (same thing I think). I had previously tried this recipe using olive oil instead of the clarified butter and parmesan instead of romano cheese but the texture wasn't as light. I used Pecorino Romano cheese. I devised a quick and easy method for making these: made the dough in my Kenwood Chef first using the whisk beater to beat the potato and eggs and then using the dough hook when I added the other ingredients. I processed it until the dough was smooth. Then I rolled the dough out on a floured board using a rolling pin until it was about 1/2 inch thick. Next, I used a pizza wheel to cut the dough criss-cross, making little squares. Much easier than rolling and cutting individual squares. This way I can make and cook these in under 20min!

[cylee]

OK - I'd LOVE to give this 4 1/2 stars, but RZ wouldn't let me... This recipe is ALMOST perfect! One thing you must remember when making this is that you DO NOT want it to get "dough-like" . Be careful not to add too much flour, let the dough be sticky (yes, you'll get some on your hands!).. That seems to be the only secret to make these absolutely perfect! My first batch was a bit too floury... second batch... perfect! Also feel free to sub leftover mashed 'taters from dinner for the potato portion.... Thanks, Marie, this was WONDEFUL.. and made a FANTASTIC dinner with a nice simple browned-butter sage/garlic sauce!!! Oh, Heck... I'll give it FIVE stars... After all, the ingredients and instructions were pretty much foolproof!

[Renegade Chef]

I made gnocchi once before and it wasn't very good at all, this version was much, better, very light and fluffy! I subbed cottage cheese, as one reviewer suggested. I think one trick is to use as little flour as possible when you are working the dough--the less you use, the lighter the texture. For those that have never made clarified butter, it's very easy and can be done ahead of time. Heat a stick of butter on LOW heat until it melts, then skim the milk fats off the top and pour the liquid butter out, leaving the solids behind. I froze the leftovers on a sheet and they were great, so I will definitely make this ahead of time in the future. So much better than the stuff you buy at the grocery. Thank you for sharing.