Almost everything is better homemade, and gnocchi is no exception. This easy 3 ingredient gnocchi is satisfying to create and eat! In 30 minutes you can have your own restaurant quality gnocchi to serve a 5 star meal.
Gnocchi is a cousin of traditional pasta noodles and can be made using a variety of ingredients. Flour or potato are of the most common kinds, but stores like Trader Joe’s are making new varieties, like sweet potato, super easy to obtain.
I have made my grandma’s flour gnocchi before but prefer to use potato dough. I think it’s easier and quicker to make the gnocchi with potatoes and they cook more evenly. And so, I have made these multiple times in the last few weeks and just can’t seem to get enough of them.
While I’m sauteing these babies up, I keep going back to a Tuscan style sauce. A creamy garlicky base with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and these perfect pillowy gnocchi… I mean c’mon.
First step to creating these babies is to make sure they have no lumps. Use a potato ricer, potato masher, stand or hand mixer to make them as smooth and airy as possible. Once that’s complete you can mix them with the egg and flour to create your dough.
The dough gets rolled into a long skinny log just by using your hands. Cut it into about 1″ segments and then they are ready to be rolled. If you don’t have a gnocchi board handy, because if you’re not a professional why would you, use can just use a fork. Gently roll each piece of dough down the back of the tines to create the grooves. If they’re sticky, just dust them with a little more flour.
The first time I made these I cooked down spicy Italian sausage to go into the sauce and it was pretty phenomenal. This last time though I air fried salmon and tossed it on in.
Feel free to make these easy 3 ingredient gnocchi with marinara, like my homemade Italian herb pasta sauce, my creamy Tuscan sauce, or tossed in a little butter. The sky’s the limit!
Easy 3 Ingredient Gnocchi
Equipment
- potato ricer/ food processor/ hand mixer
Ingredients
- 1-2 lbs potatoes yellow or russet
- 1 egg
- 1 c flour plus extra for dusting
- pinch salt optional
- olive oil to sauté
- garlic to sauté
Instructions
- Poke the potatoes with a fork all over to create steam holes, and microwave for 10 minutes, or until fully cooked. Let it sit for several minutes to cool, and then remove the skin and discard it
- Either push the potatoes through a potato ricer into a large bowl or mix them completely with a stand mixer, hand mixer, or potato masher. You should not be able to feel any lumps at all in the potatoes
- Make a well in the center of the potatoes and add the egg and whisk it. Add 1 cup of flour, and salt if desired, to the mixture. Using your hands, mix the potato, egg, and flour until they are well combined and have created a thick but soft dough ball
- Cut the dough ball into fourths and sprinkle flour over the top of the ball. On a clean surface take a quarter of the dough and roll it out into a log with your hands, about 1" tall. Use a knife or dough cutter to slice the log into small pieces, about 1" long each
- Using the back of a large fork (the longer the tines the better), gently roll each gnocchi across the tines to create the grooves. If the dough becomes sticky, dust them with more flour
- Boil a pot of water and drop the gnocchi in, about 15-20 at a time- depending on the size of the pot. You don't want them to be overly crowded while they cook. Once they rise to the top of the water, let them cook another 2-3 minutes
- Bring a skillet with olive oil and garlic to medium heat, and sauté the gnocchi until they start to develop a golden crust
Store the gnocchi in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. They are best reheated in a skillet, to give a little crisp coating to them!
