potato gnocchi

While potato gnocchi is often made on special occasions in Italy, it’s actually pretty easy and fun to do… not to mention delicious. The saffron zucchini sauce is a favorite and it’s colorful and the two go so well together.

For large bowl family of 4-6:

1 kg potato, ideally Yukon Gold
300 g 00 flour or all purpose flour, (1/2 whole wheat works well too)
1 medium sized egg
1 teaspoon of salt fistful of salt for large pot of boiling water

Optional sauces:

• Saffron Powder or Pistils 0.008 oz (.250 g) /. 4 medium zucchini / splash of cream / grated Parmigiano Reggiano — cut zucchini into rounds, sauté with olive oil, add saffron, cream, salt as needed

• Butter, sage and grated Parmigiano Reggiano — sauté sage in butter for a few minutes, salt as needed

• Tomato and grated Parmigiano Reggiano, salt as needed

Remove potato skins and cut into 1 inch cubes, steam for 20 minutes or until soft and crumbly when you poke them with a fork. Dump the hot potatoes onto a clean surface and while they are cooling, mash with a masher or back of a fork. Add 2/3rd of the flour with your hands, then crack the eggs in the middle and add that too. Sprinkle the salt on your dough and mix it up. Add rest of flour so it does not stick to surface. Mix well with your hands and form into a large ball. Clean your hands and put large pot of water on to boil. Salt the water. Use remaining flour or use more flour for surface. Cut off 1/5th of the dough ball and roll it out into a long, uniform snake. Use a knife or bench scraper if you have it and cut 1/2 inch pieces off the snake. Create area for gnocchi but do not let them touch or put them on top of each other. Once you finish making all the dough into gnocchi, gently dump into boiling water. Gnocchi will float to the top when done. Using a slotted spoon, remove and put directly into prepared sauce.