45 replies to this topic

[Crunchboy]

Gnocchi is one of those foods that can be great or horrible.  When its good, its light, soft and almost creamy, and when its bad its like tasteless lead sinkers.  The strange thing about it is that it contains only 3-5 ingredients (potatoes, flour, salt, and maybe egg and/or some nutmeg).  It looks so easy to make, yet I can't seem to get it right.

Almost everything I've read says you want to use as little flour as possible, and to do so, you've got to allow as little water as possible into the potato.  You also have to use floury potatos such as russets.  While I've tried baking and boiling the potatoes, using a masher and a ricer, with egg and without egg, I can't seem to get it right.  

Does anyone have a tried and true recipe or know what I'm doing wrong?

[Liza]

It's difficult to diagnosis the problem without seeing or tasting your results. For a master recipe, I refer you to Mario Batali's in "Simple Italian Cooking". We experimented with other root vegetables - rutabaga and parsnips - and found that it was really crucial to dry out the veggies as much as possible, which meant about 45 minutes in a dry pan - after initial cooking!
Hope this helps, at least a little.

[Robert Schonfeld]

To Liza's very good reference, I would add Marcella Hazan's. She gives clear directions for forming correct gnocchi - with an indent on one side, and tine marks on the other. This is functional in trapping the sauce, as well as traditional and attractive.

The potatoes have to be as dry as possible. I think it was chef Collichio who suggested baking them on a goodly layer of salt. In any event, baking is much better than boiling, and, obviously, potatoes with as little moisture content to begin with as possible.

[ngatti]

To Liza's very good reference, I would add Marcella Hazan's. She gives clear directions for forming correct gnocchi - with an indent on one side, and tine marks on the other. This is functional in trapping the sauce, as well as traditional and attractive.

Marcella's Classic Italian Cooking has a recipe that works.
I make very light pillows and I owe it to her recipe and watching lidia Bastianich give a demo.

I wouldn't worry about classic form until you get the tendency to 'glop' out of the equation.  I don't use whole eggs I use 2-3 yolks per 5, 70 count Idahos.  But remember that the more egg, the easier to handle.  However they will get denser.   I don't strictly rice.  Use a Mouli, not a potato ricer.  (one of those stainless steel handcrank jobs).  Riceing too fine contributes to the tendency to glop. Use the next courser set of holes than the ricer plate.

Flour a board and roll out like Play-Doh (just like when you were a kid).  Cut into small pillows and let 'em rest (in the fridge).  Give 'em a flash freeze.  Not enough to get 'em solid, but enough so that they're easier to handle.  So time it for just before you want to cook them.

Hope this helps
Nick

[russ parsons]

i played around with gnocchi quite a bit and found that it's a lot like pie dough ... it's a touch/technique thing. i don't use any egg, it makes it dense. i steam a floury potato, rice it onto a board and spread it to allow as much evaporation as possible. add just enough flour to let it stick, then quickly knead it into a mass. roll it into a rope and then cut the rope into sections. if you work it too long, it will get gluey. if you use too much egg it will get gluey. you'll know by the feel right when it comes together.

[it aint easy being cheesy]

Try roasting the potatoes on a salt bed instead of boiling them and they will be not be nearly as moist. Also try to use semolina to seperate them after they are rolled and they will stay seperate. When you are ready to cook them keep the water just under a simmer so your poaching them instead of boiling them. A little olive oil in the dough also gives them a better texture.
good luck

[Liza]

Welcome, IAEBC! Thank you for the tip - wondering if just any ol' salt will work, or does it need to be a specific variety?

[ngatti]

One more thing.  
I find steaming the potatoes in their jackets cuts down on the moisture content.  I relize that most people don't have a commercial low pressure steamer.  I wouldn't know where to begin to improvise one.

Nick

[it aint easy being cheesy]

Kosher Salt is my choice but anything you have will do.

[pennylane]

Please help me, guys - I am going crazy!!! I feel like I have read everything ever written about gnocchi, yet I just can't get it right!! Every time I make it, the same thing happens. The gnocchi practically dissolve in the water! The few semi-solid ones which I manage to rescue inevitably turn to mush when I attempt to mix in the sauce.

I tried again tonight with the same result. I used one and a half potatoes, mashed, with about six tablespoons of flour. They looked so pretty shaped and formed and waiting to go into the pan. I cooked the first batch for about a minute, and they all dissolved completely. I took the second batch out as soon as they rose to the surface of the water, which was after about five seconds. Those were better, but still mushy!!

Help!!!

[doctortim]

You're obviously dedicated to creating great gnocchi, so perhaps set an afternoon aside and try this:

Set a pot of water to boil, and make your dough however you normally would. Cut off a little bit of the dough and shape it (one gnoccho worth), then put that in the water and see how it goes. Too delicate? Incorporate a bit more flour into the next pinch of dough. Too dense? Add a very small bit of water or milk. Make these changes only to the bits you pinch off, or you'll find that by the 5th modification you'll have overworked your original dough to the point where it's useless.

Keep doing this and noting the feel of the dough each time. Note how damp it is on the outside, and how sturdy it is when you're shaping it. As russ said, it's a lot like making pastry in that you go by feel. When I make gnocchi I still roughly weigh out the flour depending on the amount of potatoes I have but it's just a guide: if it doesn't feel right I'll go by that.

Some general considerations in technique that can affect the finished product:
- Baking the potatoes has always worked for me. If I'm making gnocchi on a weeknight and want to speed up the process, I zap the potatoes in the microwave for 8 minutes and then put them in the over to speed up the process. Since there's no added moisture, in theory it should reduce the overall flour requirements.
- I use a potato ricer, with holes that are about 0.75 mm diameter. When I use a potato masher, I find I have to overwork the potatoes in order to ensure I've evenly broken them all up. That equals gluey potatoes.
- Spread the riced potato on your bench in a fairly thin layer. That way when you sprinkle your flour, salt, and egg, it'll require less work to evenly combine.
- Make your dough when the potatoes are still hot.
- Don't overwork the dough! If you overwork a perfect dough, it'll become sticky and you'll have to add more flour. Work to combine the ingredients, but no more.\
- Once you've make the gnocchi, freeze them or use them. Don't leave them sitting there on the bench while you boil the water and make the sauce.

And finally, here's my rough recipe for gnocchi (1 person's large portion or 2 people's normal-sized meal):

- 2 large floury potatoes, baked skin-on until they're completely tender inside (I've tried all the varieties on offer here and find Sebagoes the best).
- All-purpose flour. After the potatoes are baked, I weigh them, divide that by 4, and that's how much flour I weigh out. So 250g flour for 1kg of baked potatoes. I never use more than this amount of flour, and most of the time it takes about 80% of that flour before I'm happy with the dough's consistency.
- 1 egg, whisked to combine. For this amount of potatoes I'd only use about 1/2 to 3/4 of the whisked egg mixture. I used to not use egg, but I find that with egg it's much easier to achieve a texture that is slightly firm to the bite (and importantly, doesn't fall apart when mixing with the sauce), but still melts in the mouth.
- Salt. I don't measure this, just use as much as you'd use to season the potatoes as if you were going to eat them straight.

Scoop out the potato flesh and rice it onto a bench. Evenly salt the riced potato. As evenly as you can, distribute the whisked egg over the potatoes. Evenly sprinkle about 60-70% of the flour over the potatoes. From the outside in, push it all together and start working it to combine. It'll be a mess at first of parts that are too dry and parts that are too wet, but eventually it'll come together. Dust as much as you like of the remaining flour over the dough when it becomes a bit sticky. The final dough should be slightly damp but not sticky. If in doubt, for the first few tries err towards a drier dough than a damper one. Sure they might be a bit heavy, but it's better than gnocchi soup. If you've used all your weighed-out flour and it's still sticky, you're probably overworking the dough.

When this is ready, cut the dough into three even parts and roll them out to long tubes, about the thickness you'd like your final gnocchi. It'll become a bit more sticky so feel free to dust with flour to make it more manageable. Chop these into gnocchi-sized pieces, shape, and boil until they rise.

This has become ridiculously long, but I hope it helps you!

[gfron1]

If you haven't already, check out the gnocchi cook-off HERE. There is tons of good data there.

[Chufi]

Another great tip I got from eGulleter Gnocchi queen Shaya, is to rice the potatoes onto a dishcloth and knead the dough in the cloth - this seems to absorb excess moisture. When I started doing this, I was able to make gnocchi for the first time (before that, I either had dissolved ones or very heavy stodgy ones)

[pennylane]

Thank you all SO much! Those are some great tips, doctortim. The only thing which confuses me, however, is that most of your tips seem aimed at reducing the amount of flour. But don't I actually need more flour to keep my gnocchi from falling apart?

- I use a potato ricer, with holes that are about 0.75 mm diameter. When I use a potato masher, I find I have to overwork the potatoes in order to ensure I've evenly broken them all up. That equals gluey potatoes.

It had already occurred to me (based on what I read in this and other threads) that I might have overworked the potatoes, but would that cause the gnocchi to dissolve and fall apart like they did? I would have thought gluey potatoes would lead to denser gnocchi, not the other way around?

I keep meaning to experiment with the dough as I'm making it, but each time I feel strangely confident that it'll turn out right so I don't bother. One thing I'll definitely try the next time, though, is adding the egg. I have tried that before but this time I thought I'd go without, and I guess that was a bad idea.

Sure they might be a bit heavy, but it's better than gnocchi soup.

Gosh, I just can't agree more. It seems like everyone's always complaining about "heavy", "leaden" gnocchi, whereas I am so far from that, it's hard to believe we're even talking about the same thing!!

Well, I'll let you guys know how the next batch turns out! Thanks again for all your help!

[doctortim]

Most of your tips seem aimed at reducing the amount of flour.  But don't I actually need more flour to keep my gnocchi from falling apart?   

Simply adding more flour would be a good way to ensure that your gnocchi stay together (to a point). However the more flour you add, the more flour you'll get in each mouthful and worse the gnocchi will taste, both in flavour and in texture. Hopefully my tips and the other tips in the thread will help you handle the dough in such a way that a good result can be achieved with a standard amount of flour (which I've found is never more than 1/4 of the cooked weight of the potatoes).

I would have thought gluey potatoes would lead to denser gnocchi, not the other way around?

I'm not really sure about the science of starch and what happens chemically when someone overworks mashed potato. But from practice I've found that 2 things make a gnocchi dough more watery and gloopy: one is overworking the dough, and the other is leaving the dough sitting around. Perhaps as the starch breaks down it releases moisture?

Best of luck!

[chefadamg]

.

I tried again tonight with the same result.  I used one and a half potatoes, mashed, with about six tablespoons of flour. 
Help!!!

Its quite evident youre not using ENOUGH flour. Many beginers make that mistake. This is a dough and needs the proper balance of potato to flour. Thomas Keller uses 2 lbs russets/3 yolks/salt and 1.25-1.5 cups AP flour. Thats what I use and it works every time. Also..some people dont quite mix it up enough...everyone always says over kneeding will make them tough..and thats true ,if you kneed for 10 minutes. The dough has to be mixed properly to homogenize.

[pennylane]

Its quite evident youre not using ENOUGH flour. Many beginers make that mistake. This is a dough and needs the proper balance of potato to flour. Thomas Keller uses 2 lbs russets/3 yolks/salt and 1.25-1.5 cups AP flour. Thats what I use and it works every time. Also..some people dont quite mix it up enough...everyone always says over kneeding will make them tough..and thats true ,if you kneed for 10 minutes. The dough has to be mixed properly to homogenize.

Thanks, man! The more I've been thinking about it, the more convinced I am that that's a big part of my problem. I'm so scared of using too much flour, I go too far in the opposite direction. Also I wasn't using eggs, and that makes the dough take less flour. Thanks for your ratio - I'll keep that in mind.

[Mikeb19]

My 'recipe' (more like a technique), that I've used with great success in restaurants.

Bake potatoes on a bed of salt. Rice potatoes (you've got to work quick while they're hot). Sprinkle flour all over (and season with a little salt), then mix with your hands until it gets 'crumbly' - the drier the potatoes, the less flour needed. Add an egg yolk or two (for most home sized batches, 1 egg yolk should be enough), and mix until it is *just* combined (mix too much, it gets gluey). Roll into 'ropes' (make sure theres plenty of flour on your work surface), cut, and boil (or freeze).

Making gnocchi is more about technique than it is recipes. It's a very hands on, manual operation.

[moreace01]

Not sure if you are determined to make potato gnocchi, but I've found that ricotta gnocchi is much easier to work with - and to perfect - since you don't have the time consuming process of baking the potatoes (since it goes so much faster, I've found that it's easier for me to tell when the dough is right or wrong because that's what I'm concentrating on versus all of the additional steps with the potato gnocchi). Mario Batali has a great ricotta gnocchi recipe.

[pennylane]

Not sure if you are determined to make potato gnocchi, but I've found that ricotta gnocchi is much easier to work with - and to perfect - since you don't have the time consuming process of baking the potatoes (since it goes so much faster, I've found that it's easier for me to tell when the dough is right or wrong because that's what I'm concentrating on versus all of the additional steps with the potato gnocchi). Mario Batali has a great ricotta gnocchi recipe.

I'm not sure I've ever had ricotta gnocchi. What does it taste like compared to the potato-based kind?

[moreace01]

To be honest, I don't really think it tastes that much different (maybe others think differently?), but it might be because I usually pair gnocchi with strong sauces. For myself, I just think it's a whole lot easier. I've made riccotta gnocchi numerous times, so I kind of understand the texture that works. I made it a few weeks ago using a new recipe (for me at least - from Suzanne Goin's Sunday Suppers - great sauce but gnocchi were heavy). I've had a lot of luck with Mario Batali's (and the sauce is excellent too).

[Paul McMichael]

Making gnocchi is more about technique than it is recipes.  It's a very hands on, manual operation.

A couple of years ago, My wife I went to Tuscany for gnocchi lessons. It is an art.
Noella at Aiole insisted on old potatoes, steamed then dried on her special board. Not much flour in the dough, but lots of flour on the board. I have a photo on

My Webpage

[Viwakavune]

Someone mentioned cooking Gnocchi with strong sauces. What kind of sauces do you usually use?

[moreace01]

I think that was me.

I qualify meat ragu as strong (heavy might be a better term) - which is what I typically seem to use. I did try ricotta gnocchi in brown butter with chanterelles and sweet corn following suzanne goin's recipe. while the sauce was awesome, the gnocchi were extremely "leaden" (I think that is an accurate description). They just weren't light, fluffy clouds. I noticed that when I was working with the dough that it seemed heavy/dense - it wasn't light and sticky like Batali's recipe. Next time i make that sauce, I'll follow Mario Batali's recipe for the gnocchi.

[UnConundrum]

I like a gorgonzola sauce. You can find my recipe here: http://www.recipeson...orgonzola-sauce

[Daniel Rogov]

Gnocchi have several things in common with potato latkes and nothing is more crucial to the success of either than, after the potatoes have been grated, crushed, mashed or otherwise mauled, placing them on a clean tea-towel (dish towel), wrapping the towel around them firmly and then squeezing the liquids out of them. The more liquid you get out the less flour you will need for binding and the better your gnocchi.

[slkinsey]

You can squeeze liquid out of cooked potatoes? News to me.

[kellytree]

I made gnocchi today and thanks to all of your tips and tricks I whipped my italian boyfriends butt in the homemade gnocchi department (having said tha, he made the tomato sauce hich as perfect.)

[doctortim]

kellytree, that looks unbelievable! What ingredients went into the tomato sauce?

[kellytree]

kellytree, that looks unbelievable! What ingredients went into the tomato sauce?

The sauce was made with our canned tomatos sauce ( just tomato and a pinch of salt), 2 sausages - whole , a piece of some kind of beef, a carrot, celery, a clove of garlic, and a little oregano.
The whole thing is quite simply thrown together and boiled for a couple hours.

I take out all the chunks of meat and veggies and due to my darling mate I have to pass it through a sieve to get out all traces of tiny pieces of meat that may linger.

His version ends up very soupy (but good) or as he says " the gnocchi must swim in the sauce"- I usually put a spoonful of what remains in the seive (which is mostly just thick tomato sauce with a few tiny pieces of meat).

A LITTLE TRICK FOR WHEN YOU MAKE THE FORK MARKS:

Cut your gnocchi worms into the desired size.
Pick up a piece and pass the fork on the side of the gnocchi (not on the top which would seem the most obvious way).

The sides are still a little wettish so it is easier to make the indent marks.