Light and Pillowy Gnocchi

Light and pillowy gnocchi from marthastewart.com

A week before I came home from work to a whole dinner (I’m still floored.), Hubby decided to buy a stand mixer. Hon, you know I love to bake, but had baked plenty of pies, cakes, cookies, etc. without one. So there it stood–a big, heavy appliance taking up precious real estate on the counter. I’m not complaining, just pointing out the facts. Hubby showed me the stand mixer’s features and excitedly said, “We can buy an attachment to make homemade pasta.”

Umm, no. 

Back to the delicious dinner Hubby whipped up. One of the things he made–which did not require use of the hand mixer–was gnocchi. I’m not usually a gnocchi fan, but Hubby’s was unexpectedly light and pillowy and yummy! He served to it with marinr

Here are the recipe from Martha Stewart.com  and video featuring Thomas Joseph that he used as guides. Happy cooking!

Light and Pillowy Gnocchi

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds Idaho or russet potatoes
• 2 large eggs, lightly beate
• Coarse salt
• Pinch of freshly ground white pepper
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (review of the recipe wanted to know what the olive oil was used for, so I have to check with Hubby, ask him, and get back to you)

DIRECTIONS

1. Place potatoes in a large stockpot. Add water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are tender when pierced with a skewer, about 40 minutes. Drain. When cool enough to handle, peel and mash potatoes using a potato ricer. Set aside on a baking sheet until completely cooled.
2. On a cool, preferably marble, work surface, gather potatoes into a mound, forming a well in the center. In a small bowl, stir together eggs, 2 teaspoons salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Pour mixture into well. Using both hands, work potatoes and egg mixture together, gradually adding 2 cups of flour. Scrape dough from work surface with a knife as necessary. This process should not take more than 10 minutes. The longer the dough is worked, the more flour it will require and the heavier the dough will become.
3. Dust hands, dough, and work surface lightly with some of the remaining 1 cup flour. Cut dough into 6 equal portions. Using both hands, roll each piece of dough into a rope 1/2-inch thick. Continue dusting as long as dough feels sticky. Slice ropes at 1/2-inch intervals. Indent each piece with thumb, the tines of a fork, or the back of a semicircular grater to produce a ribbed effect.

   (I’m not sure why the Martha Stewart recipe ends here, but here’s what to do with the gnocchi.)

4. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in gnocchi and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until gnocchi have risen to the top; drain and serve.

Yield: serves 6