Week 3 of my personal challenge to work my way through the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. For this week, I am making homemade Gnocchi. Making fresh Gnocchi is not as complicated as you would think. All you need to do is mash up potatoes with egg and flour and then you got fresh pasta. I liked this recipe however, next time I would add fresh ricotta cheese and parmesan cheese to the mixture. I think this would make the Gnocchi even tastier. Overall, this dish makes a nice fluffy pasta with tasty tomato sauce!
Gnocchi in Tomato Sauce
Serving size: 4 servings
Total Time: 1 hour
Source: Recipe adapted from SmittenKitchen cookbook.
Gnocchi:
2 pounds Russet potatoes (3 to 4)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Ricotta cheese as topping at the end
Tomato broth:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium stalk celery, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/2 cup white wine or marsala wine
One 28-ounce can of whole or chopped tomatoes with juices (I use San Marzano)
A small handful of fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish
2 cups vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Step 1: To prepare the potatoes, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Bake potatoes for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on size until a thin knife can easily pierce through them. Meanwhile, prepare the tomato broth.
Step 2: To make the broth, Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Once it’s hot, add the carrot, celery, and onion, and cook together for 5 minutes, reducing the heat to medium if they begin to brown. Add the garlic, and cook for one minute more. Pour in the wine, and use it to scrape up any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pan, then cook the wine until it is reduced by half, for several minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, mashing them a bit with a spoon if they’re whole, and the basil and stock, and simmer until the tomato broth thickens slightly, for about 30 minutes.
Step 3: To make the gnocchi, let the potatoes cool for 10 minutes after baking, then peel them with a knife or a peeler. Grate the potatoes using the large whole setting on your grater. Cool them to lukewarm, about another 10 minutes. Add the egg and salt, mixing to combine. Add 1/2 cup flour, and mix to combine. Add the next 1/2 cup flour, mixing again. Add 1/4 cup flour, and see if this is enough to form a dough that does not easily stick to your hands. If not, add the last 1/4 cup of flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is soft but only a little sticky, and able to hold its shape enough to be rolled into a rope. Knead the dough together briefly, gently, on a counter, just for a minute.
Step 4: Divide the dough into quarters. Roll each piece into a long rope, about 3/4-inch thick. Cut each rope into 3/4-inch lengths. Cook gnocchi in boiling water for about 2 minutes. Serve with broth and ricotta cheese.
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