Gnocchi

Recently we had some Argentine friends over. One morning as I was rushing to get things done and lunch on the table, Alicia said, “Karen, do you want me to make some homemade Gnocchi”. I took a quick look at the clock, 11:00 am, and said, “Um, yeah, but isn’t it too late?” She said, “No, I can make them real fast, just watch!” I couldn’t believe it, in less than 40 minutes she had them cooking in a huge pot! Lunch was done by noon!
Ever since, gnocchi are one of our favorite “fast” foods.
Here’s our recipe (for a big family)…
1 kilo of flour = 2.2 lbs.= around 8 cups
Salt
3 Tbsp. of butter or margarine
1 liter (quart) of boiling water
Pour the boiling water over the flour and fluff it up to mix with a fork. When it kind of sticks together, dump it out on a counter space and pat it together. Don’t knead. Let it rest under the bowl while you get some other things ready.
Start boiling salted water in a large kettle. Get flour ready to sprinkle over the gnocchi. Use a fork to make the ridges on the gnocchi.
Okay, start making small snakes out of the dough. Cut them up in little chunks. Sprinkle flour on the chunks and then run them over a fork making a little impression with your thumb on the other side.
Boil them for one minute or until they start floating.
Serve with spaghetti sauce, white/cheese sauce, or pesto.
I remembered my days in Argentina. There is a saying that people eat gnocchi on the 29th of each month. I guess it’s because it was the cheapest thing left to eat at the end of the month.
Other people use potatoes, sweet potatoes, mandioca or just about anything to make these. This recipe is just plain flour gnocchi, but, so very good!