Gnocchi!

Awhile back I had quite a bit of ricotta cheese left over from my first attempt at ravioli. I was looking up other uses for it and came across ricotta gnocchi, which sounded enchanting. We made them, and they were pretty good, but ever since I've been curious about the "original" gnocchi made from potatoes. Potatoes have been cheap and plentiful lately, so with lots of leftover mashed potatoes from Saturday's dinner, yesterday seemed like a great time to try them.

The only problem was, I couldn't find a recipe that used leftover mashed potatoes. So, like most things in my kitchen, I winged it. Maybe not a great idea for a food that most recipes describe as "tricky," "delicate," and "takes a few tries to really figure them out," but hey, that's never stopped me before. I mean, come on, how hard can they be with four ingredients: potatoes, egg, flour and a little salt.

I measured 1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes, mixed well with 1 egg and a dash of salt, and then added 1 cup flour, less than I thought I'd need (the dough is supposed to be very soft, almost sticky). I was instantly chagrined to discover that my flour was not mixing in, the dough was definitely not sticky and it appeared the whole thing would be an enormous, rubbery flop. But I gathered up the pieces and very gently kneaded them for a few turns. I actually came out with a lovely soft dough on the other side, not sticky but not stiff either.

Making the actual gnocchi is the fun part. You divide the dough in several sections, roll each into a long snake and then cut them to 1-inch lengths. Then, you roll them across the back of a fork or - what I found worked much better - the end of a whisk, where all the separate pieces come together into the handle. It is best if your thumb and the whisk stay well floured, because this part can get a little sticky. You want one side of the gnocchi to have lines from the whisk, and the other to have a small indentation from your thumb, both of which help your sauce to cling to the gnocchi (I didn't shape my ricotta gnocchi because I was short on time, and it really made the difference! I'll never make them un-shaped again!).

 

Place the finished gnocchi on a floured surface. Heat a pot of water to boiling and cook the gnocchi in batches, being sure not to crowd the pot. After they float to the top, continue cooking for two minutes or so, then remove to a serving bowl and cook the remaining gnocchi.

 

Serve with whatever sauce you like. I've seen a lot of butter and sage sauces recommended. The sauce we had last night was delicious, though I'm not sure I could duplicate it. I sauteed half an onion and about 5 cloves of garlic in a little olive oil and a smidgen of butter until nice and caramelized. Then, I added about 1/4 cup of leftover collard greens (also from Saturday night) that had been cooked with onion and balsamic vinegar, and maybe 1/3 cup of pasta sauce I had made for pizza last week. These all sat over very low heat while the gnocchi were cooking. When they were done I added about 2/3 cup of the cooking water to the sauce, stirred it well and let it bubble for a minute and then mixed with the gnocchi. It was amazing! I have to see if I can recreate it without all the leftovers at some point.

Here is our finished dish. We really enjoyed it and will be making them again soon!