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Step by Step Guide to Homemade Gnocchi

Homemade Gnocchi

A step by step guide to light and pillowy gnocchi every time!

Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 lbs russet potatoes
  • 2 ½ - 3 cups flour plus more for rolling out dough
  • 4 large egg yolks brought to room temperature
  • ½ tsp kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 and wash your potatoes. Poke holes in the potatoes to allow steam to escape and bake them on a baking sheet or directly on your oven rack for 50-55 minutes.

  2. Remove the potatoes from the oven and let them cool slightly until you’re able to handle them comfortably. Cut the potatoes in half to allow the steam to escape. Remove the flesh of the potatoes from their skins.

  3. Grate or rice the potatoes using a cheese grater or a ricer.  Spread the potatoes out over a clean work surface

  4. Beat the egg yolks and drizzle over top of the potatoes. Sift the flour over top of the potatoes and egg yolks and sprinkle with the salt.

  5. To form the dough, cut the flour into the potato and egg yolk mixture. A pastry cutter works really well here.  Once things start to become incorporated, bring the dough together with your hands.

  6. Once the dough comes together, knead it a few times so that the dough stays together, but be carful not to over mix.

  7. Form a log with the dough. Use a pastry cutter or knife to cut off a slice of the log at a time. Roll that slice into a long rope that’s about an inch thick, then cut that rope into little gnocchi.

  8. You can leave the gnocchi as is at this point in time, or you can use a fork to create the ridges you see on traditional gnocchi. 

  9. If making ridges with a fork, press the an individual gnocchi down onto the fork with your thumb and roll it over onto itself to reform a cylindrical shape. 

  10. Place the gnocchi on a floured baking sheet. Set them aside if you’ll be cooking the gnocchi right away. If you’re not cooking it right away, put the baking sheet in your freezer and allow them to freeze completely.  Once frozen, remove them from the baking sheet and store them in a gallon sized freezer bag.

  11. If you are cooking them right away, boil them in heavily salted water until they float. Stir occasionally to prevent them from sticking to each other or to the bottom of the pan. Toss them with your favorite sauce and serve!