Ingredients
Gnocchi dough:
- 3 pounds russet potatoes
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 extra large egg
- Pinch kosher salt
Sauce:
- 1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
- 4 cups basic tomato sauce, recipe follows
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
- 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella di bufala, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
Directions
Place the potatoes in a large pot and just cover with cold water. Boil the whole potatoes until they are soft, about 45 minutes. While still warm, peel the potatoes and pass them through a food mill onto a clean pasta board.
Make a well in the center of the potatoes and sprinkle with the flour. Place the egg and salt in the center of the well and, using a fork, stir the egg into the flour and potatoes. Bring the dough together, kneading gently until a ball is formed, and continue to knead for another 4 minutes, until the dough is dry to the touch. Cut a tennis-ball sized hunk of dough off the main ball and roll it into a dowel about 3/4-inch thick. Cut across the dowel to form pellets about 1 inch long. Flick each pellet down the tines of a fork to form the traditional gnocchi shape. Repeat with the remaining dough.
In a 14 to 16-inch frying pan, combine the pepper flakes, tomato sauce, and 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer 15 minutes, or until the sauce is as thick as good porridge. (At this point the sauce could be refrigerated for up to 2 days).
When you are ready to serve the gnocchi, bring 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt.
Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water and cook until floating aggressively, 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the gnocchi to the pan with the sauce, using a slotted spoon. Turn the heat to medium and toss gently for about 30 seconds. Tear the basil leaves into a few pieces and add to the sauce along with the mozzarella cubes. Toss together for 30 seconds longer. Pour into a heated bowl and serve immediately.
Basic tomato sauce:
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 Spanish onion, chopped in 1/4-inch dice
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
- 1/2 medium carrot, finely shredded
- 2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand and juices reserved
- Salt
In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal. Season with salt and serve. This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.
Yield: 4 cups
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By ponzi
Indiana
on October 24, 2011
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My wife and I made this last night. I just wanted to say that I thought that the gnocchi recipe is excellent, but I want to comment on the sauce. This is the best sauce I've ever had. We made it with plum tomatoes we grew and canned ourselves. The sauce was so rich, and sweet from the carrot. This will be our tomato sauce recipe from now on.
By Honeyspidey
Sacramento, CA
on March 28, 2011
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This is my favorite-ever Gnocchi recipe. Period. This is also perfect baby food. The baby cries in her chair when I make these because she just cannot wait. She loves them and says "UMMM" when she eats these with ANY sauce.
If you're failing, don't over mix the dough, and don't over handle it. When they're made properly, they'll look imperfect. This is OK. Under-knead rather than over-knead. I prefer the dough to be a little too wet too. If it's getting too easy to handle I start worrying about how good they're going to turn out.
All great gnocchi come from these first four ingredients. You can get clever once you get this down. Definitely 100% worth the effort. The entire and extended family enjoyed this.
By gremex_12208880
San Francisco, 43
on October 11, 2009
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I used two extra large russets and followed recipe. I did add freshly ground nutmeg to the dough. I used the basic tomato sauce recipe with porccini mushrooms and got some extra large black olives (not canned, pitted the olives and it turned out "Simply the Best".
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