I tried my husband's favorite Italian dish this weekend, gnocchi. It was surprisingly easy to make with only three ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. potato (boiled with the skins on until just fork tender)
3 eggs
and 1 1/2 cups flour
First, run your potatoes through a ricer and spread them out to dry on a cookie sheet. It seems that this is the key to fluffy gnocchi, the drier the potatoes the lighter the gnocchi.
After 20 minutes to 2 hours of dry time, pour the potatoes onto a board in a pile. Pour the 3 beaten eggs on top then sprinkle one cup of the flour over that. Next, begin to incorporate the ingredients, adding flour as necessary, to make a soft, not sticky dough. Knead this dough for several minutes.
Divide the dough into four portions and roll each portion into a 2/3 inch thick rope.
Cut the rope into 1/2 inch pieces. Take each piece and press it against the back tines of a fork off the end of the fork to form the ridges.
Pop into boiling, salted water for about 3 minutes then straight into a hot pan of melted butter to saute. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and sage and eat!
