Author Notes
Gnocchi is easily my favorite type of pasta, and I've been dying to make it at home since I first came to appreciate these little doughy morsels. I decided to make my very first attempt at gnocchi for a dinner party (risky, I know), so I wanted them to have a little something special. I added some creamy ricotta which gave them an incredibly subtle flavor and slightly more dense texture, as well as some chives since they're a natural with potatoes. After I boiled them, I sauteed them in butter to improve the flavor just a bit and give them a more dynamic texture. (I can't get enough of that brown crust right out of the pan.) But the best part of gnocchi, as I discovered, was that they are a total blast to make. For a Millennial of Spanish, Turkish, German and English descent, I felt like a total Italian grandmother from the old world. And I loved every minute of it. —theicp
Test Kitchen Notes
In this gnocchi recipe, The Internet Cooking Princess has re-imagined the classic sour cream and chive-topped baked potato in the most ingenious way: she swaps in ricotta for the sour cream, lightening the dough and lending it a faint sweetness, and sautes the gnocchi in olive oil and butter for a most addictive golden crust. A few tips: we used a ricer to mash the potatoes to ensure that they were perfectly smooth; scored an "X" onto each end of the potatoes before boiling so they were easier to peel afterwards; and shaped the gnocchi by rolling them down the back of a fork, because we're fancy. After sprinkling some chives and grated parmesan on top, we helped ourselves to bowl after bowl. -A&M —The Editors
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Ingredients
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3
russet potatoes
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2
eggs
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1 cup
ricotta
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1/2 cup
grated Parmesan
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1/3 cup
chives
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2 cups
flour (making sure you have extra on hand for rolling them later)
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6 tablespoons
butter
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6 tablespoons
olive oil
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Kosher salt and pepper
Directions
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Bring a large pot of water to boil and add the russet potatoes. Boil for 45 minutes, draing the water through a colander, and let the potatoes cool.
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Once the potatoes have cooled down, remove and discard the skins. In a large bowl, mash the potatoes. The mixture needs to be as smooth as possible, so use an immersion blender or hand mixer if that helps. Then, add the eggs and stir into the mixture. Once the eggs have been incorporated, stire in the ricotta, parmesan, and chives.
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At this point, the mixture should be very thick, but it needs to be as thick and maliable as dough. Add the flour and stir together until you get that consistency. The mixture will still be a little sticky, that's ok. Take a handful or two of flour and scatter it on a smooth surface. Place your dough on the flour and roll around until it's more dough-like and doesn't stick to everything in sight.
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Begin rolling with your hands as if you're forming a large snake. You will end up getting a very large tube of dough, about two feet long. Cut this into quarters, and continue rolling each individual segment until you form rolls that are no bigger than a quarter in circumference. (Any bigger and you'll have difficulty cooking them.)
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From the skinnier rolls, take a knife or pinch off little sections and roll them around in the palm of your hand to make the gnocchi. You may need to continue dredging them in a little flour as you go, which is fine. Set all the finished gnocchi on a large plate to the side.
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Once all the gnocchi have been formed. Dump them into a boiling pot of hot, salted water. Boil the gnocchi for five minutes to ensure their centers are nice and dense. (They will automatically start popping up to the top of the pot once they're cooking, but make sure you give them a little extra time in the water.)
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Drain the boiled gnocchi through a colendar. Then, in a very large saute pan over medium high heat, add two tablespoons of oil and butter. Add just enough gnocchi to the pan where they have enough space to get a light, brown crust around them. Add more oil, butter, and gnocchi when the first batch is done. Lightly season the gnocchi with a little kosher salt, parsley, or extra chives.
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