Gnocci (48): Cove potatoes in a pot and cover with water about 2 inches above the top of the potatoes. Bring the potatoes to a gentle boil.
Boil the potatoes until they are knife tender about 30-40 minutes. Try to keep the skins from rupturing so the potatoes don’t absorb any water and don’t overcook them.
Let the potatoes cool a bit so that you can handle them. Peel them. If they’re too hot to handle use a kitchen towel to hold the hot potato when you peel them.
Put the potatoes through a ricer or food mill while the potatoes are still hot. Mashing the potatoes works in a pinch but the gnocchi won’t be as light.
Spread the riced potatoes on a cookie sheet or a flat baking pan in a single layer to cool and allow some of the moisture to evaporate. The drier the riced potatoes the lighter the dough will be.
Bring a big pot of very well-salted water to a boil.
Put the riced potatoes in a mound on a flat work surface. Create a well in the middle.
Crack the egg onto the work surface in the well. Beat the egg well. (I don’t salt fresh pasta doughs including gnocchi because I think salt toughens the dough. I’d rather the gnocchi absorb salt in the boiling cooking water. But, if you want add about 3/4 teaspoon of salt to the egg before you beat it.)
Slowly start to incorporate the egg into the ring of riced potatoes.
When fully incorporated spread out the mixture and sprinkle some of the flour over the top.
Knead the flour into the potato mixture.
Repeat with another dusting of flour until the dough holds together and is smooth and soft. Try to use as little flour as possible for light gnocchi.
Sprinkle some flour on the work surface so the dough doesn’t stick. Knead the dough to create a smooth dough ball.
Cut the dough ball into 6 pieces.
Flour the work surface again if necessary and roll each piece into a rope of 1/2 inch diameter.
Cut the rope into ½ inch pieces. Make sure you have enough flour on your work surface so that the pieces don’t stick together.
Using the back of a fork press the piece over the tines with your thumb and press downwards to push the gnocchi off the fork. You’ll create indentations from the tines on the back of the gnocchi and a concave indentation on the other side from the pressure of your thumb. Great shape and texture to absorb the sauce.
Spread the gnocchi on a floured cookie sheet or flat baking pan as you make them.
Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water, gently stir to make sure they don’t stick together and gently boil the gnocchi until they rise to the top of the water.
Remove the gnocchi with a spider or mesh ladle and place them in the sauté pan with the sauce of your choice. Make Pesto Tapanese Sauce: Basil pesto ain’t the only one. Small ripe tomatoes and roasted almonds are the stars of this pesto. Basil is only a minor player. This uncooked sauce made in a blender or food processor takes only a few minutes. The aroma and taste of the almonds is front and center supported by the sweetness of the tomatoes and the sparkle of the hot pepper as you swallow.
Good for 1 pound or 500 grams of spaghetti or the yield from one full potato gnocchi recipe or your favorite pasta shape.
Ingredients
2 ½ cups or ¾ pound of the ripest and sweetest cherry, pear or other small red tomato
1 large garlic clove, smashed
10-12 large fresh basil leaves
½ cup whole almonds, roasted or lightly toasted
¼ teaspoon peperoncino flakes
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup EVOO
½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano
Cooking Direct
1
Gnocchi (48): Boil the potatoes until tender (30-40 minutes). Do not overcook. Peel the skin off. Using a mixer, mash the potato. Spread on a cooking sheet. Bring a big pot of very well-salted water to a boil.
Put the diced potatoes in a mound on a flat work surface. Create a well in the middle. Crack the egg onto the work surface in the well. Beat the egg well. Slowly incorporate the ring into the ring of potatoes Sprinkle some salt over the top. Knead the flour into the potato mixture. Add some flour if the dough doesn''t hold as smooth dough ball. Cut the dough ball into 6 pieces.
Flour the work surface aand roll each piece into a rope of 1/2 inch diameter.
Cut the rope into ½ inch pieces. Using the back of a fork press the piece over the tines with your thumb and press downwards to push the gnocchi off the fork. You’ll create indentations from the tines on the back of the gnocchi and a concave indentation on the other side from the pressure of your thumb. Great shape and texture to absorb the sauce. Spread the gnocchi on a floured cookie sheet or flat baking pan as you make them.
Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water, gently stir. Remove the gnocchi with a mesh ladle and place them in the sauté pan with the sauce of your choice.
Makes about 48 gnocchi. Store unused gnocchi in a refrigerator. Pesto Trapeze sauce: Put the garlic, almonds, pepper flakes, basil leaves, tomatoes and then the sea salt in a food processor or blender. Blend for about a minute or so, scrape down the sides and then blend again until no large bits are visible. While the machine is running gently stream in the EVOO (Italian olive oil)until the pesto is smooth and well blended.Use the pesto at room temperature to dress the pasta. Top the dressed pasta with the grated Parmigiano Parmigiano. You can store it in the refrigerator for a few days.
