Gnocchi or potato dumplings

There is nothing more rewarding then making your own if you have some time to spare.

Recipe (x2 generous)

500g potatoes

150g plain flour

1 tbsp olive oil

½ tsp salt

They go very well with a simple tomato sauce with basil or a butter and sage sauce.

Peal and boil the potatoes until soft, let them cool slightly then pass it through a potato ricer, I really like this part ;)

 

add the flour, salt and olive oil and start to work until you have a soft dough. Dust a work surface with some flour and start to cut the dough in stripes, roll them into sausage shapes. Then cut into 2cm wide segments. Now roll them over a fork to make an indentation, this is an important step if you want your sauce to marry happily with the gnocchi.  

 

Put them on a surface dusted with flour to rest until ready to boil.

 

Bring a large pan of water to boil add the salt and tip in the gnocchi. They are ready when start to float on top of the pan, remove them with a slotted spoon and carefully mix them with the sauce, they are really fragile, and you don’t want a mash! So my tip here is to pour a bit of sauce at the bottom of each plate, add the gnocchi and add more sauce on top.

 

 ENJOY

 

A bit of history: In the city of Rome, the dumplings are the traditional dish on Thursday, following the dictum "Thursday, gnocchi, Friday fish (or" chick peas and salt cod "), Saturday Tripe" (the proverb emphasizes for the christian the importance of the day Thursday as almost festive, requiring of a dish tasty in anticipation of the “fasting” the next day, Friday). Taverns (Osterie) around Rome that follow the ancient tradition still survive.

In Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil there is a tradition of eating gnocchi on the 29th of each month, with some people putting money beneath their plates to bring prosperity.

So today is 29^th and I will put money under my plate hoping for the best!