Potato Gnocchi

Gnocchi is a traditional Italian dumpling made with combination of potatoes or ricotta with flour and egg. It is a light comfort-food option that is quite fun to make at home. Texture wise,  they are soft to bite and spongy to chew. My younger girl said "it is like eating pillows".

Potato Gnocchi, served with pasta sauce

Ingredients

(Serving: dinner for 4 - 2 adults, 2 children)

• 5 russet potatoes (about 700g after boiling)
• 1 - 1 1/3 cups plain flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 egg

Methods

1. Skin the potatoes and boil them in salted boiling water until tender.
2. Once they are ready, scoop the potatoes out from the pot and mash them up using a fork. Let cool completely. Keep the water in the pot for later use.
3. Once the potatoes have cooled, sprinkle 1 cup of the flour and the salt over the potatoes. Mix them together and add the egg into the mixture.
4. Lightly knead the mixture by hand until all ingredients are combined and not sticky to your fingers. You may need to add extra flour (one tablespoon at a time if the dough mixture is too wet). Gather it into a ball. Do not over-knead the dough as this will make the gnocchi heavy and tough.
5. Divide the dough into 12 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece out into a rope about 1/2-inch in diameter. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
6. You may take some time to create ridges in the individual gnocchi using a fork or simply give each piece a quick roll into a oval-shaped tiny ball.
7. Re-heat the salted water used to cook the potatoes. Gently place the gnocchi in the boiling water, stir lightly to prevent them from sticking together. Once the gnocchi float up to the surface, scoop them out from the pot.
   
   

Once they are dished up, I served the gnocchi with store-bought tomato pasta sauce which I have heated up.  A light and hearty family dinner on weekday evening.

To freeze -  place the pre-boiled gnocchi in a single layer on a baking sheet and place into the freezer. Once they are individually frozen, you can place them together or on top of each other in a bag or container.

Adapted from: foodloversodyssey and zoomyummy