Adventure #4: Gnocchi or Ñoquis or (Nee-Okee)

Another of my favorite foods from my time in Argentina is a traditional Italian potato dumpling called gnocchi. Gnocchi may be difficult to pronounce for the first time, but they are delicious and only require a handful of ingredients. Set aside an hour or two to prepare the dough and enjoy a tasty Italian favorite!

Gnocchi or Ñoquis or (Nee-Okee)

Ingredients:

• 6-7 medium potatoes, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 3-4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Boil potatoes with garlic cloves and salt until fork tender. You are essentially making mashed potatoes for the first part of gnocchi. Drain potatoes, reserving about 1 cup of the water in a large bowl. Place drained potatoes into bowl with reserved liquid and mash until smooth. (If you have  a potato ricer or food mill, that would make the mashing process go by quickly.)
2. Once you have your mashed potatoes, allow them to cool for 10-15 minutes in the fridge before moving on to the next step.
3. While the potatoes are cooling, warm your favorite pasta sauce or make the one I did:
4. Quick and Easy Pasta Sauce
• Ingredients:
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1-2 Tablespoons honey (helps cut the acidity of the tomatoes)
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 Tablespoon italian seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• Procedure:
1. Heat oil in a small saucepan and saute the garlic in the oil. Add the remaining ingredients and stir. Allow sauce to simmer until your gnocchi are ready.
5. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil to cook the gnocchi in.
6. Once the potatoes are cool, mix in the egg until smooth. Then, slowly add the flour (1/4 cup at a time) while mixing to form a slightly firm dough. (The dough will be stickier than you think after adding flour. Keep adding flour until the dough is just barely firm.)
7. Allow dough to rest for a few minutes, then begin to form gnocchi by making dough "snakes" about 1/2 inch in diameter.
8. Cut each snake into 1/2 inch balls and form gnocchi using a gnocchi board (you probably don't have one, but they make the gnocchi look a lot prettier) or a fork. Roll the gnocchi on the lightly floured board or fork with your thumb to create ridges on one side and an indentation with your thumb on the other side (I'll put up a video sometime soon)
9. Boil the gnocchi in small to medium batches until they float. They cook quickly and can begin to fall apart if they boil too long. Once the gnocchi float use a slotted spoon or a skimmer to remove the gnocchi from the pot and mix them with your sauce. (Be sure to keep the sauce-to-gnocchi proportion correct so that they are evenly coated without drowning.)
10. Continue boiling the remaining gnocchi until you have made enough to serve. If you don't use all of them in one meal, you can spread them evenly on a cookie sheet lightly coated with flour so they don't stick and freeze them. Once they are frozen, transfer them to a freezer bag and store for  1-3 months. To cook them, boil frozen gnocchi until they float (30-60 seconds?).
11. Enjoy your gnocchi!