A cross between pasta and potatoes, these Italian dumplings are fun and messy to make. Delicious with pesto or your favourite pasta sauce. It was a one-hit wonder at Little Chefs who are still scraping the dough off the chairs!
Ingredients (serves 4)
8 large baked potatoes, cut in half
2 free range eggs
300g plain flour
4 tbsp finely grated cheese (a mix of parmesan and cheddar)
Preparation
Bake the potatoes for 1.5 hours and leave to cool before handling
To serve
Fresh pesto
Cucumber batons
Cherry tomatoes
Method
Scoop out the flesh of the potatoes into the bowl
Mash the potato with a fork until it is smooth
Crack the eggs into a small bowl and whisk with a fork
Put the egg into the potato mixture. Add the flour, grated cheese, then mix together until you have a smooth dough. If it’s too sticky, add more flour. It should feel a bit like play dough.
Divide the dough into 4 balls and on a lightly floured surface roll the dough into long sausages. Next cut with a knife this into 2cm pieces.
Press each gnocchi with a fork to make a ridged pattern (this helps them to cook and also helps the sauce stick to them).
Bring a large pan of water to the boil with a pinch of salt. Cook about 10 gnocchi at a time, gently lowering them into the water with a sieve or slotted spoon for about 30 second. When it is ready the gnocchi will rise to the surface of the water..
Remove the gnocchi and put into a warmed bowl. To serve, stir in fresh pesto or other pasta sauce. Serve with cucumber and cherry tomatoes.
