Gnocchi are a popular element of north Italian cuisine. The great master chefs make them by hand. In other places, they are more well-known as a pasta that can be made using potatoes, flour, semolina, a mixture of flour, eggs and feta cheese, and in some areas they even put in breadcrumbs.
The easiest gnocchi to make are ones with potatoes. If you do not have a pasta machine you will have to make them by hand. In general, most pasta machines have a special attachment for gnocchi.
Here's how to make homemade gnocchi:
Wash the potatoes, peel and boil them in a pot. Once cooled, pass them through a potato press. Do not mash them - this will make them sticky and unsuitable for the preparation of gnocchi.
Add flour to the result until the mixture begins to look like a dough. Salt.
Roll out the resulting dough into long cylindrical strips, then cut them up into bite sizes. Form indentations/lines on each bite using a fork. This is something that gnocchi are famous for having.
Place the gnocchi in boiling water. They are ready once they float up to the surface - from 3 to 5 min.
There are different ways to serve gnocchi. Often they are served with ham and in cream sauce. In Italy there are many ways to prepare gnocchi. One of the most popular are wheat gnocchi with ricotta and spinach, traditionally made in Tuscany. As well as tomatoes and basil - ingredients that Italy cannot live without.
Italians may eat gnocchi as a substitute for soup or pasta. As well as homemade, gnocchi are sold fresh, ready to cook, packaged, refrigerated or frozen.
In Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, this dish is served on the 29th of every month. There, there is an underlying belief that this brings luck.
