Gnocchi

May 07, 2020

Gnocchi has to be one of my favourite pastas!

By Giuseppe Laurito

Growing up, my siblings and I spent endless hours kneading dough with mum and dad. We would all help to cut and roll the little balls, off a fork or off the specially made timber blocks, into oval lined shapes. This process was all part of the fun, and to this day, a mouthful of my mum’s gnocchi takes me right back to those cherished childhood memories.

Who would have thought, all these years later we would be making that same homemade gnocchi for our own family-run business? We have owned and operated 4 award winning, successful restaurants in Brisbane over the last 20+ years and take pride in using recipes passed down to us from our parents and grandparents. Now we are passing this tradition on to our own children, who love being taught the art of pasta making!

In our family, Gnocchi is made traditionally with a Napoli sauce. Both of our parents came from southern Italy where the tomato based sauce was more prominent with this pasta. These days Gnocchi is paired with an assortment of sauces such as gorgonzola or bolognaise and eaten with a range of toppings from beef raggu to salmon.

So here it is…. We hope you enjoy the experience as much as we do!

Gnocchi Dough ingredients

Potatoes 1.5kgs

Eggs 2 whole

00 Flour 450gms

Salt 2 pinches to taste

Semolina for dusting

Method

Boil potatoes (we use Desiree potatoes) until soft

Press into a sieve until soft and fluffy and there are no lumps of potato, but don’t overwork the potatoes. Allow these to cool in a bowl.

When cooled Add 00 flour to the potato making a well in the middle.

Crack the eggs into the well and season with salt.

Press the dough together using your hands until it just comes together, again don’t overwork the dough (this is important!)

Sprinkle with some flour and create a ball

Cut the ball into portions, and each portion roll into a long cylinder shape approximately 1cm think in diameter.

Cut into desired gnocchi size we usually go by 2cm long. Sprinkle with semolina which stops the gnocchi balls from sticking together and set aside until all the dough is finished (optional some people like to roll the balls off a fork)

Cooking

Pre boil water with salt, once water is boiling stir in a circular motion creating a whirlpool. Gently drop gnocchi into pot. When the gnocchi floats to the top, continue to cook for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from water gently and place into your desired sauce.

Serves 6-8 people.