When people talk about good gnocchi, you always hear about how “light” they are, but I find that just because gnocchi are light doesn’t mean they’re good. More often than not, gnocchi taste and feel to me like boiled mashed potatoes or mushy dumplings. It wasn’t until I had good gnocchi, which, in addition to being light, had some texture and springiness to them, that I realized how good they could be. Matt worked really hard to ensure that our gnocchi had those qualities. This dough is very starchy and sensitive, so the gnocchi must be formed and served the same day the dough is made. You must use russet potatoes.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 8 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F.
Step 2
Spread a 1/4-inch layer of salt on a baking sheet. Rinse the potatoes, roll them in the salt, and place them, on the salt-covered baking sheet, in the oven to bake until they’re very soft, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the potatoes from the oven and use a small knife to remove half of the peel, discarding the peel. Squeeze the potatoes out of the peel into a food mill or potato ricer and discard the remaining peel. Pass the potatoes through the food mill or potato ricer into a large bowl. Sprinkle the 2 teaspoons of salt over the potatoes and cut the salt in with the tines of a fork, sweeping through the potatoes from side to side with the tips of the tines to avoid compressing the potato.
Step 3
Drizzle the egg over the potatoes and cut it into the potatoes in the same way. Pass the potato and egg mixture through the food mill again into a large bowl. Sprinkle the potatoes with some of the flour, adding the flour gradually and cutting it in with the fork in the same manner, adding more flour as soon as the flour you have added is integrated and the dough begins to look wet again. Form the dough into a brick about 1 inch thick, patting down on the top of the dough to make it square. Turn the brick out onto a baking sheet, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Step 4
Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and cut the dough brick into 1-inch-long segments. Lightly flour a flat work surface and roll the segments into 1/2-inch-thick tubes. Dust the tubes generously with flour and line them up side by side. Cut the tubes into 1-inch segments. Dust the work surface again with flour. One at a time, pick up one of the cut segments with one hand and a large dinner fork with the other. Holding the fork so that the tines are resting on the work surface and the convex (arched) side is facing out, and using your thumb, roll the gnocchi down the length of the fork to create ridges. Place the ridged gnocchi on the prepared baking sheet and repeat, forming the remaining segments in the same way. Use the gnocchi or cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.
