Am I exaggerating a bit with this title? ;-) I've tried a few gnocchi recipes and somehow they were never what they were supposed to be. I got this recipe (slightly modified) from a wonderful book that I got from my sister and her husband: It's called "At the Table in Venice" (with recipes by the wonderful Skye McAlpine, published by Südwest Verlag; advertising not commissioned) and I I would like to encourage you to try this recipe because the gnocchi tastes like Italy and is actually very easy to prepare.
These gnocchi are sooo much better than the ready-made ones you can buy in stores: so it's definitely worth taking the time to make. You won't regret it, I promise. ;-)
And here comes the recipe for the best gnocchi north of Italy.
This is what you need for approx. 6 servings:
1 kg potatoes as large as possible (soft boiling ones)
250 – 350 g white flour
2 medium eggs
1 tsp salt
Option: add a little nutmeg - I personally prepare the gnocchi without it
This is what you have to do:
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees
Wash the potatoes briefly, prick each potato several times with a fork (approx. 6 times all around) and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper
Bake the potatoes for 1.5 hours
If you prepare the potatoes in the oven, they will be drier and you will need less flour to prepare the gnocchi - and the less flour, the lighter the consistency.
When the potatoes are ready, let them cool a little, then cut them in half and use a spoon - I use a grapefruit spoon that has a serrated edge - to hollow out the potatoes until only the hard rind remains
Press the still warm potatoes through a press or, if you don't have one, use a potato masher - like me ;-) - it's completely sufficient
Now pile the 250 g of flour onto your work surface, make a large depression and put the potato mixture into the depression - press a depression into this again
Put the two eggs and the salt into this cavity
And now it finally gets fun: use your hands to work everything into a smooth, soft dough
If the dough is too wet, i.e. very sticky and not compact, add more flour in portions - I prepare a tablespoon at a time, which is in the flour packet, so that all I have to do is touch the end of the spoon with my doughy hands to get the flour to add to the dough
It's best to try to work from the outside in at the beginning when mixing the ingredients. Don't be surprised: at the beginning I always have the feeling that there will never be a dough, but there will be one. ;-)
Now divide the dough into approx. 8 portions and form them into balls
Roll each ball into a strand about 1 inch thick - you'll probably need some flour to help you roll the dough
Now cut the strands into pieces about 3 cm wide, coat them in a little flour and press them in on both sides with a fork to create the typical grooves
Make sure that the pieces are all about the same size so that the cooking time is the same
Next, bring a large pot of water to a boil with salt and preheat a bowl
Now add the gnocchi in portions and carefully into the pot - make sure that the boiling water does not splash when it falls in - and let them cook for about 2 minutes until they come to the surface
Take them out of the water with a slotted spoon, place them in a preheated bowl and add some butter - done!
The gnocchi should be served straight away, they simply taste best when freshly prepared. It goes well with warm butter with sage and a little salt and Parmesan or we also love it with homemade Bolognese from Herzmann. Buon Appetito!
