Help, do you Gnocchi?

I need some help from those of you experienced gnocchi makers. I was thinking about serving gnocchi with a gorgonzola cheese sauce as a primi for an upcoming dinner party for 8-10 people.

I tried making a batch today, just using boiled potatoes put through a ricer and flour without any egg. They were nice and light, but seemed to fall apart if boiled even a few seconds too long.

I followed the recipe in Marcella Hazen which mentions that the choice of potato is crucial. Hazen recommends using "boiling" potatoes and avoiding new or russet potatoes. What exactly is the "boiling potato"? Is there another kind of potato that you recommend using?

Do you think adding an egg to the mix would be better for a larger batch? Can the gnocchi be made ahead and then cooked at the last minute? Would kneading the flour and potato mix longer help the gnocchi hold together better?

Thanks in advance.
Marc

Use high starch potatoes. Use all purpose or Tipo 00 flour. Don't add too many eggs or overknead- you'll end up with leather otherwise. Fresh gnocchi can be dusted liberally with flour and refrigerated. Yes, cooking time is critical; once they start to float, get them out.

Mmmmm, fresh gnocchi. Heaven.

You now have advise from the expert, no need to keep checking in to see advise. Stu knows and tell us all about this kind of thing.

Boiling potatoes are the kind with papery skin, like red potatoes.

http://www.wineloverspage.com/user_submitted/recipes/139464.html

Absolutely. Foolproof. Gnocchi.

Trust me.

Looks perfect. Even has the right kind of potato.

[Jenise]

Boiling potatoes are the kind with papery skin, like red potatoes.

Or big white. Waxy.

Either way, waxy is NOT what you want here.

[Jenise]

Understood, Stuart. But that is what Hazan means by "boiling potato, not russet", right? Boiling potatoes are typically waxy potatoes.

I don't know what she means, honestly; the European concept of "boiling potato" might be different than the US one. But I know how to make gnocchi, and I found out the hard way that you want high starch; my attempts to use red potatoes or Yukon Golds were spectacularly awful...

Thanks for all the suggestions. I made another test batch today and had them for lunch with pesto sauce on some and brown butter and sage sauce on the rest. Best lunch I've had in ages.

I made half the batch with an egg and the other half with no egg, just flour and potato. I didn't see Eden's post where they use a little cream until now. I used some red skin potatoes that worked quite well. The skin was papery and not waxy, and I think they had a medium starch content. I misquoted Hazen in the original post. The book stated that an "Idaho Baking potato" wouldn't work as it would be too mealy, but other recipes I found thought the Russet would work fine. Maybe I'll try Russets with the next batch.

The batch with the egg was easier to work with, and the texture was firmer, but not too dense or leathery. The egg also gave the gnocchi a pale yellow color. The egg less batch was very light and airy but didn't hold up quite as well. I think 1 egg for a kilogram of potatoes is perfect.

I used a very similar method to forming the gnocchi as described in Eden's post. A little flick with the fingertip against the tines of a fork gives an indentation on one side and tine ridges on the other. Pretty easy once you get started.

Thanks again for the help, much appreciated.

Marc

[David M. Bueker]

So I tried Eden's recipe out this weekend. Not bad for my first gnocchi. They were a little tough, and a bit heavier than I might like, but overall about as good as anything I have had in a restaurant (wife had same comments). I bought a bag of russet potatoes, and there's two things:

1. They are a pain in the &*@#$ to peel
2. I need a ricer!

Shaping the gnocchi was sort of fun, but I need an army of Italian grandmothers with me. Gosh that recipe makes a lot of gnocchi.

Tough? Hmm... How long did you let them cook? What I love about this recipe is that they always come out tender but still holding their shape (unlike lots of restaurant gnocchi that either dissolve like wet tissue or are like gummy little bricks)...

[David M. Bueker]

I cooked them until they floated. Granted the full dinner batch took a little longer, but even my test batch of 6 gnocchi that took about two minutes to foat were a bit rubbery (maybe rubbery is a better descriptor). They were not bricks, and not gummy.