Gnocchi, Homemade

Photo: flickr user From Argentina With Love

Ingredients

cup water

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups ricotta cheese

1 egg beaten

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup additional flour as needed

3 cups tomato sauce

Preparation

Place water, olive oil & ricotta cheese in bread machine. Add beaten egg, flour & set machine to dough cycle. Start machine. (Tomaselli uses The Breadman machine, which, he said, takes 23 minutes to go through 3 kneading cycles.)

Be aware that humidity plays a factor in the kneading of gnocchi. Warm & humid weather tends to soften the dough and make it sticky to the touch. If this occurs, slowly introduce the additional flour as needed until the dough no longer feels sticky.

Remove dough from machine (it will come out as a ball of perhaps 8 inches in diameter). It will flatten to a disc-like shape by itself, resting on the work surface. Lightly flour & place in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Remove dough from refrigerator & place on floured working surface. Starting at one side of the disc, cut off 1/2 inch wide slices, one at a time. Roll the slice between your hands into the form of a rope, about 3/4 inch in diameter. Cut the rope into 1 inch pieces. Lightly roll each piece over the back of the prongs of a fork to create ridges in the surface of the gnocchi. (This helps the sauce to adhere to the gnocchi.)

Repeat this process until you have enough pieces to make 1 layer in a 9 x 13 inch floured baking pan. Sprinkle the layer with some flour & cover with a piece of wax paper. Continue with the rest of the dough, forming layers & sprinkling each layer with flour, then covering with wax paper until all the dough has been used. Cover the top layer with wax paper & refrigerate dough for 2 hours.

Bring a large pot (such as a 12 qt. stockpot) of water to a rolling boil, add salt to taste. Add gnocchi to boiling water. Gnocchi will rise to top. Wait until they have at least doubled in size, then cook an additional 6 to 10 minutes. Taste for desired doneness. If you take them out too early, they will be soft.

Using a slotted spoon, remove gnocchi. Place in a large bowl & serve with tomato sauce.

Serves 4 to 6

NOTES :This recipe calls for using a bread machine, but the dough may be kneaded by hand in the traditional way.