Potato Gnocchi

Gnocchi are an Italian classic, and I regularly prepare them for my family.

This recipe is not that fast, but it always works. And it proves once again: homemade is better!

What you need:

1kg of floury potatoes

250g wheat flour

30g wheat semolina

2 teaspoons salt

For the sauce:

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 pack of tomato purée

1 can of peeled tomatoes

Oregano, salt & pepper

2-3 tablespoons soy Cuisine (vegan variant) or whipped cream

Here’s the recipe:

Cook the potatoes in plenty of salt water and peel them. (You can peel them before cooking, if you want to avoid the sticky potato peel, like me…)

Mix the flour, semolina and salt in a large bowl.

When the potatoes are soft squeeze them through a potato press into the bowl of flour mixture.

Stir everything, then knead well with your hands. The result is a slightly sticky but homogeneous dough.

On a floured board form the dough into rolls  and then cut into small gnocchi.

Press grooves in the gnocchi with a fork.

Heat a large pot of salt water. When the water boils, carefully add the gnocchi (watch out: they can splash if they plop into the water!).

When they float to the surface they are done and can be drained. They should then immediately be placed in the tomato sauce.

The tomato sauce:

While cooking the potatoes, sauté the onions in olive oil. When they turn glassy and begin to color, add the tomato sauce and the peeled tomatoes. Spice with plenty of oregano, salt and pepper. In my experience it’s best not to be stingy with spices and olive oil in the tomato sauce. You can also infuse the onions with a dash of red wine before the tomatoes are added. This is simply my basic recipe for a super fast tomato sauce.

When the sauce is simmering, squash large pieces of tomato with the wooden spoon. Taste the sauce, season if necessary and refine with 2 tablespoons soy Cuisine or whipped cream. This makes the sauce look a little brighter and deliciously creamy!

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and serve.

By the way! The gnocchi dough is also great for homemade poppy noodles. Just roll potato noodles instead of gnocchi and sauté with ground poppy seeds and icing sugar in butter. Quite delicious, too!

Enjoy!