Potato Gnocchi--A Change from all the Matzo

One of the perks of having married my husband is that I have also had the chance to meet and become friends with his friends. (Thanks, Sweetie!) I recently spent a morning with his high school friend (and my current friend) Diane. She offered to teach me some Italian cooking. I was all in! Granted, at the time we made our plans, I had not realized that we would be getting together during Passover, so that affected what we made. We decided to make potato gnocchi which, although I would not be able to test out the day we made it, I would be able to freeze and eat after the holiday. (The recipe includes flour which cannot be eaten during Passover.) We will plan to make other dishes (I am really looking forward to making tiramisu!) in the future when I don’t have dietary limitations.

The recipe we used was a simple one which she obtained in Italy (see a photo of it below–it seemed to make more sense to provide it that way than to retype the whole thing). None of the steps are difficult. It just takes some time. It is so easy to take a dish like this for granted. I am much more accustomed to seeing packages of gnocchi on the grocery store shelf. I had never really thought about how to make it by hand. Although the steps seem straightforward, this is the type of food that, to become extremely proficient at making, takes time and experience to get a “feel” for when the dough is at its best and ready to use. Diane had sent me a video prior to getting together to introduce me to the whole gnocchi making process.

This should be self-explanatory. This is your last view of relatively intact potatoes.

As an aside, I did get to use a potato ricer for the first time.

Diane is using the potato ricer to prepare the baked potato for the dough.

Sifted flour has been added to the potato and egg.

This gadget was used to help combine the potato, egg, and flour.

The potato, egg, and flour have been combined. This is now ready for the next step.

This fun part is reminiscent of preschool. Take of a piece of the dough and roll it into a "snake." — This fun part is reminiscent of preschool. Take of a piece of the dough and roll it into a “snake.”

After the "snake" of dough was cut into smaller pieces, Diane showed me how to use a fork to make ridges on the gnocchi. — After the “snake” of dough was cut into smaller pieces, Diane showed me how to use a fork to make ridges on the gnocchi.

You can prepare the gnocchi with or without the ridges. We used the tines of a fork to make the ridges.

Here is some of the gnocchi before it was put on a lined tray and placed in the freezer.

Also, as mentioned, we did not cook them after preparing them but rather froze them before packing them up for me to take home.

I finally had the chance to try out the gnocchi Sunday night (after making and freezing it on Wednesday). The final consistency was a little more mushy than I had anticipated, but this just means that I will try again (when I don’t have to freeze it). Nevertheless, I enjoyed my dinner as well as leftovers for lunch the next day!

I really enjoyed learning how to make gnocchi! I would like to try making it again, perhaps as a family activity, in the future, but I need to allow the time to do so. Similar to what I have mentioned in previous posts, the best part was getting to know Diane better. She and I had never just hung out together; it had always been as part of a larger group. I have a feeling that she and I (leaving husbands and kids behind to do their own thing) will get together again, even if it is not in the kitchen!