Gnocchi

After traveling to Italy a few years ago for work, I developed an appreciation, and a passion for authentic Italian food. While in Italy I tried gnocchi for the first time. These little pillows of potato pasta where light and fluffy and tasted so wonderful. After returning to the states I found several recipes for gnocchi, and this is by far the best I have found. The great thing about gnocchi is you can make them with any kind of sauce. I made mine with a tomato cream sauce, but you can use a white pasta sauce of some type. Every time I make gnocchi it takes me back to Italy, and I remember seeing those little old ladies standing in the back of the Italian bistro, cutting fresh gnocchi and I long to return some day.

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds Potatoes
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

Boil potatoes until fork tender. Drain, and mash with a potato masher until real fine and let cool. Spread potatoes out on a lightly floured work surface. Make a well in the center of the potatoes. (this is called the well method, and is how they make all types of pasta in Italy) Pour in eggs, sprinkle in 1 ½ cup of flour, the cheese salt, pepper, nutmeg. Using your hands, and working from the outside edges, knead until the mixture is just evenly blended, adding flour as needed.about 4 minutes. Do not over mix or the gnocchi will become tough and very dense. Good gnocchi should be light and fluffy. Lightly dust the dough and your hands with flour. Form the dough into a log about 4 inches in diameter. With a knife or dough scraper, divide into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a cylinder about ½ inches in diameter. Cut into 1 inch pieces, put on tray lined with waxed paper and dusted with flour, and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to boil, and boil gnocchi in batches until they float on top of the water, about 3 minutes. Remove with a spider or slotted spoon and place in a colander to drain. When all batches are cooked, add them to the sauce of your choice, and toss until well coated.