Gnocchi was on my list for long. With long I meant since I had it in New York somewhere in 2015. I remember it was done in Pesto sauce and tasted just amazing. That was the first time I had it and was very curious to try.
But since it has to be handmade , that just kept me delaying it . Also second was my better half isn’t as fond of it as I am, so then I thought to use this lockdown time to try this recipe which is not exactly tedious but taste a little more time than just boiling your pasta and tossing in the sauce.
So ya not just it extremely healthy with potato and wholewheat flour base it made with sauce from scratch too. Pretty much what you can ask for in an authentic pasta. When I made this , I realised the goodness homemade pasta has inspite of little more work. Its just like I can never eat frozen parathas, I rather make them fresh. Ya , you got it!
Gnocchi has to be made with help of inverted fork and that can be little tricky. Took me few iterations to figure it out. So ya the dough has to be dusted well along with the fork and use your thumb to press the dough gently so the impression comes on it and then swiftly remove it as it spirals on forms the impressions around itself. So they will be kind of small cylinders with three lines protruding around them.
Originally Gnocchi is made with potatoes, eggs and refined flour but in this recipe its majorly potatoes and wholewheat flour only. If you want to try a different type of pasta, this can be a good , all from scratch recipe.
Gnocchi
It's hand made pasta which is made using Potato and whole wheat flour.
Ingredients
- 3 Boiled Potatoes
- 1/2 cup Wholewheat Flour
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 2 tsp Mixed Herbs
- 3 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Chilli Flakes
- 1 tbsp Chopped Garlic
- 1 tbsp Coriander Stalks
- 2 Tomatoes
- 1 tsp Unrefined Sugar
Instructions
For the sauce in a pan heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and add 1 tbsp garlic and coriander stalks.
Next add chopped tomatoes and cook some sugar and salt till they are mushy and done.
Now add seasonings and then cool it and make a paste of it and keep aside.
For Gnocchi in a bowl add grated potatoes, 1 tbsp salt, 2 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 cup wholewheat flour and mix them all together in form of a dough. It should not be too dry nor sticky.
Once the dough is ready keep it in a closed container covered.
Now here it the tricky part of making the Gnocchis. Take a fork and keep it inverted, the pins of the fork are to be used to roll a small piece of the dough and so as to get the lines around the Gnocchi.
You can dust the fork with flour so the dough doesn't stick but rolls out. Now take a very small piece (just the size of Gnocchi you want) . Another way is to see the width of the fork and keep it as big as that itself.
Now with your thumb gently press and slide the dough so it spirals around and marks of the fork pins comes onto the Gnocchi. For this you need to roll this on an inverted fork from up to down.
Once you have few Gnocchis made, boil water with some salt and gently add them in water in small batches.
As they cook they would start floating and that's when you know Gnocchis are done.
Seperately in a pan you can prepare the sauce. So heat some olive oil and saute coriander stalks and garlic. Add chopped tomatoes and cook it with 1/2 tsp of sugar and salt till its soft and mushy. Add italian seasonings and let this cool and then make a paste.
Put the sauce back in the pan, adjust seasonings and little bit of pasta water (in which you boiled Gnocchi) and then add your cooked Gnocchis and toss them and let it absorb sauce.
Add some grated cheese and red pepper with some basil leaves and you are done.
Gnocchi will be little sticky and chewy unlike the pasta which has a bite. So yes the texture will be a lot different but it tastes great and it also super healthy.