Difficulty 3/5
My gnocchi are famous at my house because they’re really light and fluffy. I take every precaution I can to make sure that I add as little flour as possible for a lighter result. I also like to eat them sometimes with something not creamy or cheese like this delicious leek sauce (I love leeks!).
Gnocchi are one of those things that are so far better home-made than bought at the store. Store-bought usually have more flour in them because it’s easier to store them and have them cooked nicely.
However, more flour means a heavier dough, almost a boiled potato bread… and that’s not very nice. These are really nice, fluffy and are great with any sauce you like.
You can add a cheese, creamy sauce that go great with gnocchi or a lighter one like this one with leeks. You could also go for pesto or a nice tomato sauce.
Whichever sauce you choose, make sure that you top them with a really nice, finely grated parmesan cheese. Please not the pregrated one 🙂
Ingredients
For the gnocchi
- 500 g potato choose a dry one one suitable for mashed potato
- 1 egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 110 g all purpose flour
- pinch pepper
For the sauce
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 1 leek
- 1 garlic clove
- 20 ml white wine
- 2 sprigs fresh oregano or a pinch of dry
- 20 g peas
- 20 g toasted and chopped almonds
- to taste salt and pepper
- a gusto queso parmesano rallado y balsámico reducido
Instructions
For the gnocchi
- Cook the potatoes in the oven at 200C for an hour - 2 hours, previously pinching them with a fork to help them release vapour. You can take them out once you pinch them with a fork or knife and it goes in easily.
- Cut them in half and scoop out the inside of the potato with a spoon. Pass it through a sieve (once) or potato press (twice) while still hot. If they become cold before you can get to it, reheat them in the microwave. It will make it 100 times easier to press.
- Mix in the egg, then add the flour and salt. The amount of flour in the recipe is the minimum amount that you need for the amount of potato, but add more if it's still sticking to your fingers.
- Roll it out into a snake and then cut the size of the gnocchi that you want.
- To roll them into gnocchi shape, roll them into a ball, then into a bit of flour, and then roll it on top of a gnocchi board or a fork.
- At this point you can freeze them. If you want to do that, lay them on top of a container or a plate with cling film dusted with flour. Once they are frozen solid you can place them in a container altogether as they won't stick to each other now. This is the only way to store them because if not they become sticky.
- Cook them in boiling water and remove them as they come floating. Put them on top of the sauce once done to reheat.
For the leek sauce
- Melt the butter and add the leeks (remove the green part, cut in half, wash throughly and slice) and the leaves from the fresh oregano. Cook until soft.
- Finely grate or mince the garlic and cook until the smell turns mild.
- Add the white wine and let it evaporate completely. Also add the peas for them to cook (only takes a couple mins).
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
