I spent Easter with my family and as expected we spent most of the time in the kitchen :) My mom – of course – suggested we should make lasagne. She hasn’t given up hope yet to see a big smile on my face when she mentions that specific dish. I doubt that will happen anytime soon, though. I know, I must be the only Italian  in and outside of Italy – who doesn’t go crazy for lasagne (with ground meat, to be more specific). Not even my mom’s. Don’t get me wrong, I do know that she makes one of the best ones out there, like every Italian mamma. It’s just that ground meat combined with tomato sauce.. Same with pasta with bolognese sauce. Gladly, there are so many other ingredients you can combine lasagne, or any other kind of pasta with. I might even post a veggie or similar version on my blog one day too ;)

So, fortunately I could convince my parents to make gnocchi! I haven’t made them in a long time. Which made me forget how easy it is to prepare them. And, it also reminded me that I should motivate myself more to make them from scratch, whenever I feel tempted to get them at the grocery store.

And here’s the best part about this recipe: It consists of two ingredients only! I never use eggs with gnocchi. And they work out just fine like that. They are fluffy, and feel so much lighter on your plate than the ones that you buy packaged.

If you have always been intimidated by making your own homemade pasta, you should give it a try! It’s so much easier than you think! And once you have them served on your plate, you will know that it was well worth it :)

HOMEMADE POTATO GNOCCHI

Ingredients:

800 g / 28¼ oz of floury potatoes

approx. 200 g / 7 oz of flour

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Boil the potatoes in a large pot until they get tender.

Take them out of the water, and try to peel them possibly while they are still hot, without burning yourself! (Note: That way the potatoes will stay more fluffy.)

Then mash them inside a large bowl with a potato ricer, a masher or even a fork.

Add the flour and knead to a dough. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. You will be tempted to add more and more of it due to the sticky and moist potatoes. But do not do so! Try to make it work with as little flour as possible, as you want the potatoes to be the predominant flavor in your pasta.

Sprinkle some flour on the biggest surface you have available.

Take about one third of the dough and roll it until it gets as thick as your thumb.

Cut it into little pieces (approx. 2,5 cm / 1 inch long).

If you don’t have the appropriate wooden gnocchi board, use a fork to shape each potato pillow. You do this by rolling and pressing gently each little piece of dough with your thumb against the fork – while rolling it downwards to the edge. This movement will create a hollow on one side of the gnocchi, while the outside will show the fork pattern.

Sprinkle the gnocchi with some flour, and let them rest for about 20min.

Bring the water in a large pot to a boil. Add salt. Pour in carefully the gnocchi.

As soon as they start swimming up to the surface (it takes about 1 to 2 min. only), they are done.

Take them out and serve with a sauce or pesto of your choice.

Buon Appetito!

Prep Time: 2h

Serves 4