SummerSun

Friday, January 22, 2010

How do you make "good" gnocchi?

Every time I try, they turn out with the texture of Civil War lead shot!  Is there a secret I don't know about?  I usually use a recipe that uses up left-over mashed potatoes, so the only ingredients are mashed potatoes, flour and salt.

 ReneeM

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Re: How do you make "good" gnocchi?

Is your recipe in the bigoven online archive? Can you link to it?

When I make gnocchi, I always use freshly-boiled (skins on, so they don't soak up too much water) riced potatoes. Ricing incorporates air -- the riced potatoes are kind of dry and fluffy, compared to mashed potatoes, which sometimes come out pretty dense.

Of course, it is important to be gentle mixing the riced potatoes with the other ingredients, in order to maintain the fluffiness. And not to use too much flour, of course.

You might be able to "re-fluff" your cold mashed potatoes through a ricer or food mill.

Here is one sample recipe that discusses the technique:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/how-to-make-gnocchi-like-an-italian-grandmother-recipe.html

 SummerSun

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Re: How do you make "good" gnocchi?

This is the gnocchi recipe I've used: http://www.bigoven.com/8197-Potato-Gnocchi-recipe.html.

Thank you for the article.  I'll try ricing the potatoes, using the egg recipe and be careful not to overwork the dough or use too much flour.

 ReneeM

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Re: How do you make "good" gnocchi?

Did it work?

The recipe you linked to didn't call for leftover mashed pototoes (which usually have butter, milk or cream, salt and pepper, and maybe even garlic), so I think you will have to improvise and adjust quantities.

Did it work out? Remember, when the recipe says "it it is sticky, sprinkle some flour on", it doesn't mean to incorporate flour until the dough stops being sticky. It just means to keep a little flour between the dough and everything it is trying to stick to.

It should definitely not be like pasta dough, which is stiff and dense.

Did it work? I hope it worked.