30 Easy Gnocchi Recipes You Can Make at Home (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to boil or fry gnocchi? ›

The downside is that boiling can result in gummy, waterlogged gnocchi if you cook them too long. This is more of an issue when boiling store-bought gnocchi than with homemade ones. Frying gnocchi in a little butter or oil takes more effort, and the dumplings will be crisp on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside.

Gnocchi (pronounced NYOW-kee) are an Italian pasta, the most common of which is classic potato gnocchi (Gnocchi di patate). They are made of cooked mashed potatoes, flour and eggs. Some gnocchi recipes add ricotta to the dough.

Try not to knead it as kneading will develop the gluten and make your gnocchi chewy. Keep some flour in a cup for dusting the board and your hands as you work to stop the dough sticking.

Nutritional Value

Believe it or not, regular pasta is actually more carb-heavy than gnocchi, coming in at around 2 times the amount of carbs per serving. Gnocchi is also notorious for having a lot more sodium, with over 200 grams of it per serving. Regular pasta doesn't have nearly as high of a sodium content.

A classic choice for saucing gnocchi is a simple combination of butter and sage, but the possibilities are endless. Simpler sauces like pesto, marinara and vodka are good choices, as are heartier sauces like Bolognese, cheese and cream sauces.

Gnocchi can be a good source of carbohydrates, fiber, and certain vitamins and minerals, especially if made with whole wheat flour or added vegetables. The calorie content of gnocchi can be higher than regular pasta due to their potato content and potential additions like butter or cream in sauces.

Test the Gnocchi:

Right after making your dough, cut off a small, bite-size piece of gnocchi, roll it over a gnocchi board if you wish, and boil it until tender. If it stays together, it's good to go! If it disintegrates, you need more flour.

Egg yolk added to your gnocchi dough helps improve texture, and keep it together while cooking. Gnocchi is traditionally made with eggs in Veneto and no eggs in Piedmont, the two Northern Italian regions famous for gnocchi. We vote for egg yolks at the rate of 1 per (500g) 1 lb of uncooked potatoes used.

At Faro, Adey says, “We run very few potato gnocchi.” Instead they stick to the less common side of the root vegetable family: “Parsnip, gilfeather turnip, and salsify work great.” Broccoli and cauliflower, which are sturdy and dry, also hold up well to the test.

does take a bit of time to make, not because the. ingredients are expensive. They're potatoes.

Why did my homemade gnocchi fall apart? ›

Gnocchi can disintegrate for a few reasons. You might not have added enough flour or egg, or you may have overboiled them.

Adding too much flour all at once

It is very easy to add too much flour to gnocchi dough, which can make these dumplings glutinous, gummy, and sticky. If you dump all of the flour into your gnocchi dough at once, you won't have the same texture as a gnocchi that has just enough flour to bring it together.

While the best Italian gnocchi are light and pillowy, Parisian-style gnocchi are even lighter, and far easier to make. While boiling them in the style of Italian gnocchi is a great way to cook them, you can also fry the gnocchi in a skillet to be used as a blank palate for any number of seasonally-based pasta dishes.

In Piedmont, ravioles are a type of gnocchi made with cheese from the mountain, while chestnut flour and pumpkin gnocchi are called gnocchi ossolani. The term gnocchi also includes those made with semolina flour such as gnocchi alla romana or gnoches de gries.

Comparatively speaking, ricotta gnocchi are quicker to prepare (just mix everything together- no potatoes to boil here!) and the texture is light and fluffy, in a unique “spongey” type way. As for the taste, potato gnocchi taste like…. potato, whereas ricotta gnocchi are more mild in flavor.

Thanks to their pâte à choux base, Parisian gnocchi can actually turn out lighter and more tender than their Italian counterpart. Once the dough is made and transferred to a piping bag, it's piped over simmering water, using a knife to cut off each individual gnocchi.