GNOCCHI
This will make enough gnocchi for about 2 - 3 people
INGREDIENTS
300g fluffy potatoes such as Maris Pipers
Half the weight of plain flour
METHOD
1. Peel and cut the potatoes in half and place in a large pot. Cover with cold water and simmer until
tender. They need to be soft. Don’t salt the water at this stage.
2. Drain and leave the potatoes in the colander draining over the pot and cover with a clean t-towel until
you’re ready
3. While the potatoes are still warm mash them until light and fluffy. Weight the potatoes and set aside
half the weight of the potatoes in the flour. Add the floor and mix as well as you can. I usually do this
first stage in a bowl in the sink as it makes less mess.
4. Disinfect your work surface as you’ll need to mix and roll out and cut the gnocchi
5. Transfer the mashed potato and flour mixture to the surface and slowly knead in all the flour. The
mixture will take about 5 minutes to be incorporated. It needs to be bound together. It’s not as firm as
a bread mixture so you can be light with your hands but it needs to be well incorporated. If not it will
just collapse in the water when you boil them.
6. Add more flour if it’s still sticky.
7. Roll out the mixture to about 1 cm thick and then cut into 1 cm strips. Cut into 1 cm cubes and then
press with a fork to slightly squash and turn the dumplings.
8. Once cut lay on top of sheets of greaseproof paper.
9. When you're ready to cook the gnocchi bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and gently place the
gnocchi in the water. Be careful not to let the dumplings splash into the water as you might get burned.
10. Allow them to come to the boil and cook for another minute or two until the dumplings are cooked
through.
11. Drain and serve with our butter sugo.
BUTTER SUGO
Enough sugo for 2 - 3 servings of gnocchi as above
INGREDIENTS
2 x 400g tins of Italian plum tomatoes (liquidised)
1 large shallot, peeled but not chopped
125g unsalted butter
1 tsp of caster sugar
METHOD
1. In a large cast iron casserole pot add the tomatoes, the shallot, butter and the sugar. No need to fry the
onion first. All the ingredients just go in together.
2. Bring to the boil, stir, then reduce the heat to the lowest level
3. Balance the lid of the pot on top of a wooden spoon left lying part way across the pot. This allows the sugo
to slowly thicken and concentrate.Simmer the sugo for about 35 mins.
4. The sugo is ready when you see it reducing around the edge and the colour changes to a glossy red tone.
These traditional Italian recipes are provided by Cooks' Alliance member Chef Carina Contini.