Golden Beet Gnocchi

My first time making gnocchi was a hot mess. The first batch was inedible. I kept trying. Sadly, it either disintegrated when cooking in water or it ended up being as hard as a rock. I love gnocchi and felt so sad when restaurants gave me small quantities. So I thought making it at home would allow me to eat to my heart’s contents. It made me sadder that it was so hard to make! Now it made sense why an order came with so few gnocchi ?

It’s been a few years since I first attempted gnocchi. It was quite a learning experience! Here are some tips and tools I’ve learned along the way.

Gnocchi History

Gnocchi is a pasta/dumpling originating from Northern Italy between the 16th and 17th century. The traditional ingredients include potato, flour, and sometimes egg and herbs. Gnocchi is often made with added root vegetables for added flavor or coloring like my recipe below. Who doesn’t like to sneak in extra veggies?

It’s speculated that Spanish explorer introduced potatoes to the Italian kitchens. Northern Italy’s cooler climate was well suited to grow potatoes. These potatoes were often used in place of grain.

The word gnocchi may have come from either nonna (knuckles) or knohha (wood knot). Either one would make sense to describe the little dumpling shape of a gnocchi.

The gnocchi texture should be delicate, light, and fluffy. They’re formed by rolling dough into logs and then cutting. Sometimes, the lumps of dough are pressed against a fork/cheese grater/gnocchi board to create ridges.

The Key to Pillowy Gnocchi

Gluten is the culprit here. Flour contains two types of protein: gliadin and glutenin. These two proteins combine to form a new protein chain called gluten when dough is kneaded. Gluten is elastic and has adhesive properties that give food that signature chew like noodles. The longer you knead, the more gluten there is.

The moral of the story is to not over knead the dough. I learned this the hard way. I always want to knead the dough until it’s smooth and shiny. LOUD BUZZER SOUND. That would create a dense gnocchi. The key is to stop kneading once a dough forms. The dough should be a little bit shaggy and looks like it barely holds together. It can be a bit sticky still too. You want to coat the outside of the dough liberally with flour to stop it from sticking to your work surface and hands. Make sure to dust your the cut gnocchi to avoid them sticking to one another.

Once formed, you can store the gnocchi in the freezer for up to 6 weeks!