Nom Nom Gnocchi

Seriously everyone fucking loves gnocchi.


Like most folks, my first real memory of gnocchi was at a German friend's wedding at a hilltop villa in Bologna, Italy, in the summer of 2014. The wedding was beautiful and my two favorite things from that night were watching the sun rise with the wild guests who stayed up all night partying, and the fucking gnocchi. Probably helped that it was served with a Bolognese and we were in Bologna, but I remember thinking, yep, from now on that's my jam. I'm sure it broke all etiquette, but I asked our table server for a second round of the gnocchi (Primi) before the Secondi came out. Capisce?

The recipe below is from the Joy of Cooking, which you or someone in your close orbit absolutely owns, found on page 335 in the 2006 edition (I halved the amounts because we did not need 18 first-course servings, turns out). Thank you Julia Child, matriarch of the American kitchen and lover of wine. I served it with a puttanesca ragú, which is also my jam. I fucking love puttanesca. The NY Times cooking section has a good recipe here, which I adjusted by adding kale and sardines. Easy on the sardines, it's already pretty salty and fishy from the anchovies.


Ingredients

  • 1 pound all purpose or boiling potatoes

  • 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1/8 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted, or olive oil

  • Some beaten egg (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Scrub the potatoes, prick each in a dozen places with a fork and throw 'em on an oven rack until easily pierced with a fork, about one hour. (That's the official instructions; I didn't feel like heating up the kitchen and waiting an hour for them to cook, so I just boiled them in 20 minutes.) Ok, back to Julia: While the potatoes are still hot, split them lenghtwise and scoop out the pulp. Push it through a potatoe ricer or force through a seive with the back of a spoon. There should be about 1 and 1/3 cups. (I used a colander and believe me you it's a workout.)

Step 2

Combine the potatoes in a bowl with the flour, salt and nutmeg. (Do yourself a favor and buy a thingy of whole nutmegs. You'd be surprised how often ground nutmeg is called for in recipes and it's fun and a bit cheeky to grate a whole nutmeg instead of using boring ass store-bought ground shit.)

Step 3

Stir vigorously, then turn out on a work surface and knead until smooth and blended. (I found that I needed the optional beaten egg here to help bind the dough.) Bring 3 to 4 inches of well-salted water to a simmer in a large pot. Have your melted butter or olive oil ready.

Step 4

Julia says next to roll about 2 tablespoons of the dough in a 3/4-inch-thick cylinder, cut into 3/4" pieces, roll each piece against the tines of a fork while pressing a small dent on the oppose side with your finger, and then test the gnocchi by dropping a few in the simmering water and cooking until they float, about two minutes. I did not do any of that. I just fucking rolled out the cylinders, cut them into pieces that looked right, and threw them all in the boiling water. (My wife said I made them too big, so there's that.) They were fine. Back to Julia: They should hold a firm shape and be chewy to the bite. If they are too soft or dissolve in simmering water, knead into the dough up to 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour and/or some beaten egg.

Step 5

When the dough is right (keep the water hot), roll it into three or four 3/4"-inch-thick ropes. Cut the ropes into 3/4-inch pieces, shape the dough on the fork, letting them drop onto a slightly floured baking sheet. Bring the water back to a simmer. Drop one-third to half of the gnocchi into the pot and simmer, uncovered, until they float, then remove with a slotted spooon or skimmer to a side bowl. Drizzle some of the melted butter over the gnocchi. Toss to coat. Repeat until all the gnocchi are done.

Step 6

Serve hot with additional melted butter and grated Parmesan, a tomato sauce or ragú, or Pesto sauce.

Impress your partner, your dog or yourself with the simplest of chewy gnocchi goodness and marvel that you fucking made it from scratch!