Making Gnocci

Now I am no expert on these little delights, that's for sure! I had only made them once before about 20 years ago, however, I've eaten them many times at dinner parties or in restaurants, so I knew how they should look and how they should taste.


I had made Italian gravy recently and got to thinking how tasty it would be to add gnocci plus the gravy to our Easter dinner menu. Plus I happened to spot some wonderful looking potatoes at Costco...add it all up and I was ready to dive into gnocci making!


I tried to make each one about 1" long, but perhaps should have aimed to make them more about 3/4" wide. They flowed right off the fork and I was pleased at the looks of them. I placed all the pans of gnocci in the freezer and once they were frozen I placed them in several plastic bags.

About half an hour before we ate dinner, my son Ryan and I decided we'd better get these little potato pillows ready.... By the way, Ryan was an excellent helper! I was starting to get stressed and anxious about the whole thing and he kept reminding me that it should be fun and whatever happened, (even if they came out mushy) at least we tried. He also suggested a cocktail for me might lighten my mood, so I had one! That did the trick!


The first several gnocci we boiled bounced up like there were supposed to, but I think I let them sit there too long before I picked them out with a strainer because they started to fall apart. So we decided to get the next few quicker which seemed to help. Ryan was also my taste tester. We had heated our gravy up which I had made two days before and put some of that in a "taster bowl" for him to critique. At this point, he suggested adding salt and to sift in a small amount of flour to the bag of remaining frozen gnocci. We put a few more gnocci in the boiling water and at last things started going better!


At this point I used a large platter to spread gravy around the bottom and started putting the gnocci on the platter, then a little more gravy, more gnocci, and so on. When we were finished the BBQ'd tri-tip (another dinner menu item) wasn't quite finished being carved so I placed the gnocci platter in the oven to stay warm. I am really glad I did this as it kept them hot and the platter was heated too.


Whew! We did it! I could not have done it without Ryan's help and his tasting as we went along! We have always worked well together and can laugh off things that don't go right! I look forward to our next kitchen adventure!