By Wendy Monro

Claud and I love gnocchi. Gnocchi is like a potato dumpling. It is made with potato, egg and flour. It can have cheese and herbs added into the mixture as well. Then, it is boiled and topped with a delicious sauce, like pasta. We have been eating this for years.

Normally, I buy gnocchi ready-made at the store. I just bring it home, boil them for a few minutes, strain and serve. Generally, I top it with a ready-made sauce to make this a super simple and quick meal. Many times, I have wondered if I could make my own gnocchi. I mentioned this to Claud and he always tells me that gnocchi is tricky to make. So, I haven’t tried it.

This morning, I decided to look into gnocchi recipes and see how they are made. The recipes all looked fairly simple. I didn’t see why these should be so tricky. I told Claud I was going to give homemade gnocchi a shot. He said, “Are you sure? They are hard to make.” I told him I thought he was wrong this time and that I was going to attempt to make them anyway.

The simple way to make gnocchi is with potatoes, flour and egg. I decided to add some cheese. Are you surprised? If adding cheese is an option to any meal, I usually add cheese. I included some Parmesan and ricotta cheeses. The time consuming part of this dish is boiling the potatoes and letting them cool. I used this time to make a homemade tomato sauce. You could make a pesto sauce or a butter and herb sauce., too. Other than that, it’s really fairly simple. You just boil potatoes, let them cool, peel them and rice them. It’s so easy. Then, you add flour and egg. The only tricky part is the kneading. Everything I read about kneading suggested you don’t knead it too much. So, I didn’t and it turned out perfectly. Well, Claud didn’t knead it too much.

By the time I started kneading the dough, Claud couldn’t help but to get involved. He was really worried that I would mess this part up. I didn’t mind his help. He slowly and gently folded the dough in on itself until it formed a perfect ball. Then, he created a rectangle and cut the dough into about eight pieces. It looked good so far; just like the pictures I saw when I was researching the recipes.

Next, we rolled out the dough, cut it into little gnocchi pieces and it was ready to boil. I rolled a few and Claud rolled a few. It was actually pretty fun. At this point, I knew this was going to work. At least, they looked exactly right. I was excited.

The sauce was also really simple to make. I sauted onions and garlic, added some fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes and canned sauce to create a simple but delicious sauce for the gnocchi. I let this simmer the entire time I was preparing my gnocchi. Once the gnocchi is formed and ready to boil, it only takes about four minutes to cook. I took them out with a slotted spoon and placed them into my sauce for a minute longer. I served this in bowls and topped it with a little more cheese and some flat leaf parsley.

It turned out perfectly. We all loved it. I only had three people to feed so I had a bit left over and froze that for another meal. When my daughter, Daphne, returns from Hong Kong, I will thaw these and let her try them too. I know she is going to love this dish. I don’t know why Claud thought we couldn’t do it. He is excited to try different versions now. He said he’d like to add herbs and maybe some ham or tiny pieces of sausage. I thought adding mushrooms would be good too. I think we will have fun with this.

Gnocchi:

Time: One hour

Serves: 4-6

4 large russet potatoes

3 cups flour, divided

teaspoon salt

1 egg

cup ricotta cheese

cup grated Parmesan cheese

Boil the potatoes for twenty minutes in their skin. Cool in a colander. Peel the cooled potatoes. Rice the peeled potatoes. Place onto a dry surface. Top with 2 cups of the flour. Sprinkle the salt on top. Scoop out the center of the mound. Create a small crater. Break an egg into the center and mix it with a fork. Add the cheeses. Mix the potato and flour into the eggs. Use your hands to form into a dough ball. Don’t knead too much. Shape into a rectangle. Cut into eight pieces four inches long. Roll each piece into ropes. Cut into one-inch pieces. Toss the remaining flour over the pieces. Boil a large pot of water. Cook for four minutes. Serve with a delicious sauce.

Tomato Sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

large onion, sliced

4 tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 cup tomato sauce

1 cup red wine

3 cups crushed tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large saut pan. Add the onion. Saut for ten minutes. Add tomatoes. Add garlic. Saut for another ten minutes. Add tomato sauce, red wine, crushed tomatoes, and chicken stock. Bring to a simmer. Crush the tomatoes with a spoon. Allow to simmer for twenty minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.