Homemade Gnocchi with no Equipment
A few days ago, I tried to make Homemade Gnocchi for the first time and all without any special equipment. The result was great! Here are my recipe and tips to realize your first Homemade Gnocchi with no equipment.
What are gnocchi?
Gnocchi are small round pasta made from potato and flour. There are plenty of ways to cook them:
- In gratin
- In tomato sauce
- With sage butter
- With pesto (see my recipe for Homemade Almond Pesto)
- Sauté in a pan with vegetables
Homemade gnocchi are very easy to make. Traditionally, a small wooden board with stripes is used to obtain beautiful oval gnocchi with small stripes.
However, if you don’t have a gnocchi board, that’s okay. I will explain to you how we can achieve the same effect with a fork!
What are the stripes on the gnocchi for?
Why bother making stripes on gnocchi? The reason is quite simple: the stripes allow the sauce to stick better to the pasta.
As gnocchi are rather thick pasta, they go particularly well with a lot of sauce (or cheese).
And if you like pasta, here are three recipes you should love too!
- Fusilli with Fennel, Kale and Parmesan
- Tomato and Burrata Rigatoni
- Fusilli with Romanesco and Lemon Sauce
Homemade gnocchi recipe without equipment
For about 4 servings you need the following ingredients:
Ingredients
- 500 g potatoes
- 260 g flour
- 1 egg
- 3 g of salt
Preparation
Step 1: The potatoes
Cook the potatoes in boiling water for about 20 minutes. Once cooked, run them under cold water and remove the skin.
Crush the potatoes in a bowl until you get a mash. Add the egg, flour and salt. Mix everything well.
Step 2: The gnocchi dough
Then, divide the dough into 8 equal parts and form rolls about 2 cm in diameter. Add flour so that the rolls do not stick. Cut small sections of 2 cm as well.
Step 3: Form the gnocchi
Then form a small ball with each section. Place the fork on your worktop with the back of the fork against the worktop.
Then roll the gnocchi ball on the fork, pressing very lightly. Afterwards, you can:
- either put your gnocchi back on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and flour.
- or you can cook them directly
Warning: If you let your gnocchi rest on a baking sheet, add a lot of flour so that they do not stick.
Step 4: Cooking
Then when you have finished preparing your gnocchi (or when you have only a little dough left), put water to heat in a saucepan with a pinch of salt.
When the water starts to boil, add a first portion of gnocchi. I advise you not to add all at once but to cook them in at least 4 batches.
As soon as the gnocchi come to the surface, wait another 30 seconds and take them out of the water. Drain them and set aside.
Once all the gnocchi are cooked, you can:
- either heat them again by adding them to your warm sauce such as tomato sauce for example
- or you can brown them in the pan. They will take on a slightly crunchy texture on the outside (I love this way of preparing them!)
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Homemade Gnocchi with no Equipment
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Ingredients
- 500 g potatoes
- 260 g flour
- 1 egg
- 3 g of salt
Instructions
Step 1: The potatoes
- Cook the potatoes in boiling water for about 20 minutes. Once cooked, run them under cold water and remove the skin.
- Crush the potatoes in a bowl until you get a mash. Add the egg, flour and salt. Mix everything well.
Step 2: The gnocchi dough
- Then, divide the dough into 8 equal parts and form rolls about 2 cm in diameter. Add flour so that the rolls do not stick. Cut small sections of 2 cm as well.
Step 3: Form the gnocchi
- Then form a small ball with each section. Then place the fork on your worktop with the back of the fork against the worktop.
- Then roll the gnocchi ball on the fork, pressing very lightly. Then you can:
- either put your gnocchi back on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and flour.
- or you can cook them directly
- Warning: If you let your gnocchi rest on a baking sheet, add a lot of flour so that they do not stick.
Step 4: Cooking
- Then when you have finished preparing your gnocchi (or when you have only a little dough left), put water to heat in a saucepan with a pinch of salt.
- When the water starts to boil, add a first portion of gnocchi. I advise you not to add all at once but to cook them in at least 4 batches.
- As soon as the gnocchi come to the surface, wait another 30 seconds and take them out of the water. Drain them and set aside.
Notes
- either heat them again by adding them to your warm sauce such as tomato sauce for example
- or you can brown them in the pan. They will take on a slightly crunchy texture on the outside (I love this way of preparing them!)
