RECIPE :: Potato gnocchi

A few days after finding out I was gluten intolerant I went to a restaurant and had some gnocchi only to find out the next day that it contained flour. Annoyed that I discovered something that I’d never had before and loved it I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t be able to eat it anymore. Doing this book though made me decide to come up with a recipe for it and here it is and I love the stuff, look to the bottom of the recipe for a tasty serving suggestion.

Ingredients
900g of floury potatoes,
275g of plain flour,
½ tsp of baking powder,
1tsp of salt,
¼ tsp of pepper and
a handful of fresh parsley (minced).

2tbsp of olive oil (optional).

Method
1) Boil the potatoes with their skin on until soft. Remove the skin and mash.
2) Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl.
3) Combine the flour and potatoes and knead until you get a smooth dough. If the dough is too sticky you may need to add more flour.
4) Roll into sausage shapes as thick as your thumb. Cut the sausages into 2½ cm lengths and put to one side.
5) Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Add some of the gnocchi and boil until they rise to the top, about 5 minutes. Do not put too many in at once or they won’t cook properly.
6) (optional) Fry the gnocchi with the olive oil over a high heat for 5 minutes or until browned. This changes the texture slightly to be more crispy on the outside.


Serving suggestion
Ingredients
1 tin of tomatoes,
½ tsp of salt,
1tsp of paprika,
1tbsp of lemon juice,
½ tsp of dried basil,
2tbsp of olive oil and
½ of the above gnocchi (not fried).

Method
1) Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 7 / 220C / 425F.
2) Place the first six ingredients into a blender and whiz away until smooth.
3) Lay a batch of the cooked potato gnocchi on a baking tray and pour the tomato mixture over them.
4) Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until the tomato mixture has greatly thickened.