home made gnocchi

One of my bestest buddies in Sydney is this Argentinian guy, Mariano, whose mama reputedly makes they most kick-ass home made gnocchi in the world. Sadly, I’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing her gnocchi because his mama, she herself does not live in Sydney, so the wondrousness of her gnocchi will always remain an urban legend in my world.

But lucky for me, I recently learned that Mariano’s mama is not the only mama who makes delicious home made gnocchi. I successfully recruited another friend, David, whose mama also makes these little parcels of joy and yes, if you’re wondering, I do shortlist my friends based on their mamas gnocchi making capabilities.

gnocchi waiting to be cooked; home grown basil; gnocchi in pot; mandatory cocktail

Anyway even more lucky for me, David’s mama taught him how to make gnocchi and guess who he made a giant potful for last week? You got it, you clever little thing. He made them for me!

And you know who’s even luckier than me? You! Because not only do you get the recipe here at thecattylife, you get the next installment of thecattyLIVE and check it out, David will show y’all how gnocchi is made.

Enjoy!

Oh by the way, all that gnocchi? That was our starters. We then moved on to seared tuna with the most super cutest baby vegetables (carrots and courgettes) for mains.

seared tuna with oven roasted baby vegetables

I mean, really, if you’re not clucky for real life babies then at least be clucky for these. They are uber cute!

sweet potato gnocchi
Gnocchi:
2 medium sized sweet potato
3 medium sized white potato
2 eggs
Flour
Spices to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
Sauce:
5 portobello mushrooms, diced
100 grams pancetta ham, diced
250 grams lean ground beef
2 jars tomato sauce
  1. Boil the potatoes until they are soft. Remove from water and when they are cool enough to handle, peel the skin and mash together. Let cool.
  2. Once the mash is cool, add the eggs (do not add egg to hot dough as this will cook the eggs).
  3. Add any additional spices such as dried basil, dried oregano, salt and pepper.
  4. Knead the dough and once it is a wet texture, you can start adding flour. The more flour you add, the more dense the gnocchi (resulting in a heavy bread-like texture).
  5. Once the dough is ready, take a small portion into your hands and roll out into a tube. If the dough is still wet or sticky, roll it out on some flour until it is not sticking to your hands anymore.
  6. As you roll the dough, start to pull it outwards into a tube.
  7. Using a knife, cut the tube into 1 inch portions.
  8. With each small portion, roll into a small ball in your hands and then roll on the back of a fork to create texture.
  9. Repeat for the rest of the dough until you have an army of little gnocchi 🙂
  10. For keeping (before cooking) ensure the gnocchi are separated (so as not to stick to each other) and lightly coated in flour.
  11. When ready to cook, bring a large pot of water to boil, add a pinch of salt.
  12. Drop the gnocchi into the pot and when they rise to the surface, they are ready. Remove the floating gnocchi from the pot and add to the sauce.
  13. Garnish with grated parmesan and fresh basil and serve.

For our meal, David made a tomato sauce with pancetta, ground beef and mushrooms. You can also use a butter sauce, or more commonly, gnocchi is served with a cream sauce.

  1. Cook the ground beef and drain extra oils.
  2. Saute the mushrooms and pancetta.
  3. Add ground beef and tomato sauce and simmer for an hour.
Serves 4 as a main course.

10 Thoughts on “thecattyLIVE: “my mama’s gnocchi” – how to make good gnocchi [video]

  1. Great Post! I love to read articles that are informative and beneficial in nature. Thank You for sharing your knowledge.

  2. I’m going to definitely give this recipe a go. BTW i’m not sure if its just my end but the video keeps freezing at 1:20…I’ve tried refreshing.

  3. Hi Beth! Thanks for flagging the video freeze but it seems to work fine for me (via blog and youtube) ~ anyone else experiencing video freeze around 1:20?

  4. It won’t work for me, freezes at 1:20 :/

  5. youtube is making me unhappy 🙁 READERS (if there are any out there) I’ve deleted and re-uploaded the video to youtube, it should be working now! Thanks for your patience!

  6. Gnocchi is one of those dishes that people rarely try because they are unfamiliar with the process. Thanks for this video on proper techniques!

  7. Love the music at the end of the vid and it seemed much more relaxed and natural, well done! 😉

  8. Global Patriot: yes I agree, I didn’t even know how to even begin making gnocchi but the video helps 🙂 although I have a feeling my friend makes it look easier than it is!

    David: Haha yeh, experimenting with music 😉

  9. Hi Catty, great post and video!I love gnocchi, but I’ve never made them myself from scratch. I’m going to definitely try this one! I guess we didn’t meet at FBC09, but I look forward to meeting you at FBC10! 🙂

  10. Sarka: Looking forward to FBC10 already 😀

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