How to make homemade gnocchi

This homemade gnocchi recipe features potato-based delicious pasta-like condiments that are so fun to make and yet packed with a tender and fine taste profile that you cannot forget.

In this post, we will tackle two main ways of doing gnocchi – one the original way, ala romana, and the other is a very forgiving one – simple yet maintaining a similar taste profile – both being delicious homemade gnocchi alternatives.

In a lot of recipes and tutorials on how to make gnocchi, some add parmesan, some add spinach – the core of the matter with homemade gnocchi is that at any moment, you will need the basis to bind the ingredients together – and that is potatoes or potato alternatives, eggs and flour. Mixing and matching is up to you after that.

Ingredients for the original homemade gnocchi ala romana

• 500gr potatoes
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper
• 90 – 115 gr of flour

Ingredients for the forgiving homemade gnocchi

• 500gr potatoes
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper
• 200 gr of flour
• 1 tablespoon of ricotta

How to prepare it:

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water and then peel them once they get a bit colder so you do not burn yourself
2. Mash the potatoes until they are properly creamy. You can do it with a potato masher, or if you are like me – not fancy at all, you can do it with a fork.
3. After the potatoes are a bit colder throw in the egg. The reason why we are letting them get colder is that we do not want to cook the egg.
4. Forgiving gnocchi only: Add the ricotta and mix everything up.
5. Add salt and pepper to marinate. Not too much – think of salting a salad that size. We just want a bit to make the gnocchi tastier.
6. At this point, slowly add the flour. Add a bit of flour, mixt it up, add more, mix it up in this order until everything is fully together.
7. We are looking for a sticky mass so flour a kneading surface generously and add the potato/flour mass.
8. Here you will need to work it and knead it properly. If it feels that the dough is a bit too soft, you can adjust with a bit of flour – but keep in mind, it should be soft – as long as it sticks together.
9. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and take one of them. Roll it out in thin strips, with a thickness about the size of your index finger.
10. Cut them in small cuboids, like in the picture below. As always, for the love of what’s holy, your hands and the surface that you are working should be properly and generously floured.
11. The most complicated part is here. If you put them like the picture, they will lose the form, so I would recommend cooking them on the spot.
12. Sprinkle them with a bit of flour so they do not stick.
13. If you are feeling fancy, you can give them a form with a fork, but that’s just for show. I would focus on the sauce much better.
14. Cooking time is actually fairly simple – over boiling water, throw them in but do not overcrowd the pot. They will. fall on the bottom. They are cooked when they float to the surface. Usually 2-3 minutes.

That’s it – you can easily cook them with any recipe, but I would recommend them with a butter, spinach and bacon sauce.

As always – check out our Instagram for other cool ideas and here for some pasta ideas