Gnocchi is a Stanek family fav, and another point in favor of keeping track of what you make. I grew up eating Grandpa Stanek’s gnocchi and it was second to none (although a close second was a tiny restaurant in Trieste, Italy). The story goes that grandpa had gnocchi at a nice Italian restaurant once and said, as the good chef and chemist that he was, “I could make this better”. And he did. I don’t have any memory of Grandpa’s gnocchi being a anything less than perfect fluffy pillows of goodness. Although he must have played around with the recipe in order to perfect it because when he unexpectedly passed away in the year 2000, no one could find the recipe he used in any of his cookbooks.
My aunt, Sarah, tried for years to recreate his masterful gnocchi. Gnocchi is fickle; you have to get not just the taste and the texture right, the little dumplings also have to float when boiled in hot water for 2-3 minutes, without falling apart. Sarah finally came close enough to publish it in her wedding cookbook. And they are damn delicious.
I’m not going to try to take any credit for this recipe and instructions. Here’s from Sarah’s wedding cookbook!
Ingredients and Hardware
- 2 lbs whole baking potatoes ( = 3-4 large russets, use the scale to weigh in the store, it really is kind of important)
- 2 beaten egg yolks
- 1 cup flour (plus more for working)
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- pinch of salt
- 1 Potato ricer (see photo – it looks like a giant garlic press)
Instructions
Pre-preparation:
This recipe works best with older, dry potatoes, so purchase your spuds at least a week in advance and keep in a cool, dry place. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spear the potatoes deeply with fork tines in several places around each potato to vent moisture while they bake, at least 15x per potato. Bake the potatoes in their skins until tender, about an hour; test them by piercing with a sharp knife and continue cooking another 10 minutes if you encounter any resistance. Let cool on a rack; if you’d like to get on with the dough quickly, cut them open to help cool and let more moisture escape.
Dough preparation:
1. Scoop out the potatoes from their skins. Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer and into a large bowl. (If you don’t have a potato ricer you can mash the potatoes by hand and fluff them up a bit with a fork.) It is best to work with the potatoes when they are still warm.
2. Separate eggs and beat yolks with a fork until well combined. (Save whites for meringues!) Grate cheese, preferably with a barrel-style or box grater. Do not use a Microplane/rasp grater, the cheese will be too delicate to mix well.
3. Add egg yolks, cheese, and salt with about 2/3rds of the flour. Mix, first with a fork and then by hand, until you have a nice pliable ball of dough, adding remainder of flour in as you mix.
4. Prepare a work area and dust it with flour. Take the dough, a chunk at a time, and roll it out with your hands until you have rolls about 3/4 inch in diameter.
5. Cut the tubes of dough into pieces just smaller than one inch long, using a blunt knife or dough scraper. Using either the tines of a fork or your fingertip, press against a piece of the dough and roll it slightly to form an indentation (good for catching the sauce). As the gnocchi are made, place them on a flat surface lined with parchment or waxed paper.
Freeze:
To save some of these for later, line a tray with parchment or waxed paper, arrange gnocchi in a single layer, and place in freezer for at least one hour. Move them into a freezer bag for storage. Keeps up to 2 months or until freezer burn sets in.
Cook:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Gently drop the gnocchi (fresh or frozen) into the water a few at a time. As soon as they rise to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon, draining well. Serve with tomato sauce, pesto, etc.
I made it on Sunday with a venison Italian sausage veggie marinara and air fryer Brussels sprouts. The gnocchi are so smooth I prefer them with a less chunky sauce, but the carnivore likes them this way.
Drink wine while cooking to get the lips-same-color-as-the-purple-shirt look.
NicStan Cooks 