Teach yourself how to make potato gnocchi with our amazing, delicious method.
Potato Gnocchi is a famous dish in Italian cuisine and forms the base to a range of scrumptious recipes. This ‘how to’ page takes you through the process of making homemade gnocchi – learn some helpful tips and taste-tantalising tricks right here.
Pick the right spud…
Yukon Gold potatoes tend to work best for potato gnocchi – the original potato gnocchi methods were crafted with the use of yellow-flesh potatoes which also held a slightly nutty flavour. Yukon Gold spuds are the nearest to the original ingredients use.
Prep ‘em!
All you need to make your beautiful potato gnocchi is salt, flour, an egg, a potato ricer and your trusty Yukon Gold spud. You can measure the volume of flour by adding half-a-cup to every potato you use.
In order to shape and cook your gnocchi, you need to create a malleable mixture from these ingredients. Place your potatoes on the boil with the skins on for around 20 minutes. They’ll be ready when they’re tender in consistency – test this with a fork. The consistency is incredibly important – you need to catch them before they get too mushy and moist as they will be unusable.
Peel the boiled potatoes and put them through the ricer.
Get Messy
Spread the flour atop the riced boiled potatoes and sprinkle with salt. Create a dip in the mixture and crack an egg into it. Beat the egg with a fork. Now it’s time to get messy! Pack in and pull the ingredients all together with your hands until it forms an airy dough.
Mould ‘em!
Now it’s time to channel your inner artist. Cut the mixture into chunks and roll these into a sausage shape. Cut this shape at an angle so you’re left with a row of 1-inch diamond-shaped pieces. Now you can shape the gnocchi pieces in any way you like – fold them, bend them or leave them as they are – get creative!
To cook…
Place the gnocchi pieces in a pan of boiling water. They’ll be ready when the pieces start to float to the surface. Add a pinch of salt to the water for taste.
You can play with all sorts of flavours when creating potato gnocchi – add cheese to the equation for extra flavour or add a sprinkle of chilli for a spice kick. Check out our Gnocchi & Marinara Sauce Recipe, Potato and Sage Gnocchi with Pesto and Gnocchi Fricassee for some inspiration.
