#79 Make Homemade Gnocchi

I love gnocchi and it seems impossible to find good gnocchi in Colorado, so I wanted to try making them myself. This was quite the time-consuming task, but I'll probably do it again. So, here's my Pioneer Woman style instructions.

First take one pound of russet potatoes, rub the skins with olive oil and bake them at 450 until soft. PLEASE do not make the mistake I made, which was to not bake them long enough...make sure the flesh is totally baked through. I forgot to take a picture of this step, but I'm sure you know what potatoes look like. ;-) While you're waiting, pour yourself a glass of wine and put on some music. I chose a 2007 Sangiovese and some John Coltrane.


When the potatoes are done and have cooled, peel the skins off and rice them. This, my friends, is a potato ricer. It's the secret to perfect mashed potatoes.


Then add two egg yolks, salt, pepper and flour. I started with 2/3 of a cup and then kept adding a litte more until the dough was the right consistency.


The dough should not be sticky, but you don't want it to be too dry, either. Once the dough is ready, grab a hunk and roll it into a thin tube, flatten the top and then cut into 1-inch pieces.


I then attempted to roll the pieces into proper gnocchi shape, which involves using your thumb to roll it and then running it along the tines of a fork so that it looks like this:


My complete and utter inability to do this actually left me wondering if I'm really Italian. By this time, I was tired, frustrated and hungry, so I took the easy way out and did the thumbprint method:


They were the ugliest gnocchi I've ever seen, but they tasted surprisingly good. Next up, the sauce.

Date Completed: November 12, 2009
Tasks Completed: 14/101