Potato Gnocchi with Butter and Cheese (2024)

FAQs

Is potato gnocchi healthier than pasta? ›

Nutritional Value

Believe it or not, regular pasta is actually more carb-heavy than gnocchi, coming in at around 2 times the amount of carbs per serving. Gnocchi is also notorious for having a lot more sodium, with over 200 grams of it per serving. Regular pasta doesn't have nearly as high of a sodium content.

The first thing you need to know when buying gnocchi is what they are made with. If the label says 'potato gnocchi', it means that potatoes are the main ingredient; if, on the other hand, it says 'gnocchi with potatoes', then flour is the main ingredient. So checking all the ingredients of the dough is important.

The secret to the lightest, most tender potato gnocchi is to bake the potatoes instead of boiling them. A baked potato is dryer than one that has been boiled, which means you avoid having to add more flour to the dough to account for excess moisture, a practice that leads to over-kneaded, tough gnocchi.

We want it to get crispy, so shelf stable is the better option here, as it's already dry and ready to go. To make crispy gnocchi in a skillet, you're going to ignore the directions on the package. There's no need to boil them first, it will just make things more complicated and messy.

Gnocchi alla zucca: Pumpkin gnocchi served with butter and cheese. Ndunderi: The Amalfi Coast specialty originally made with farro and curdled milk. Gnocchi alla Romana: Made with semolina and milk, this variety is shaped into squares and baked rather than boiled.

Roasted potatoes and polenta are perfect to serve alongside this dish. The trick for making this is to prepare it the day before, then let the meat rest overnight so that the oil softens its fibers even more.

There is no need to pre-cook the gnocchi. It'll cook in the sauce. The sauce is meant to be quite thick, but if you find it gets too dry before the gnocchi is cooked, add in another splash of chicken broth or wine.

Typically, Italian guidelines recommend the following quantities of uncooked pasta per person: 60-100g of dried pasta. 70-120g of fresh pasta. 100-130g of gnocchi.

Egg yolk added to your gnocchi dough helps improve texture, and keep it together while cooking. Gnocchi is traditionally made with eggs in Veneto and no eggs in Piedmont, the two Northern Italian regions famous for gnocchi. We vote for egg yolks at the rate of 1 per (500g) 1 lb of uncooked potatoes used.

Due to the smaller and denser nature of gnocchi, it is more likely that you will end up eating bigger portions than if you chose regular pasta. Although all foods can be part of a healthy diet in moderation, if you are trying to lose weight opt for other options than gnocchi or pasta.

What sauce is good with gnocchi? ›

It's all about personal preference, as gnocchi goes well with many types of sauces. Some options include cream-based sauces (like this one), as well as tomato-based sauces, herbs and butter, pumpkin puree sauces, or basil pesto sauce.

Oh yes, you don't always have to boil them and toss them with a sauce. You can pan-fry them to crispy, soft-centered delicious little bites that make a great alternative to fries or roasted potatoes which can take the best part of 40 minutes to 1 hour to prepare.

The basic ingredient of store-bought gnocchi is, of course, potatoes, which in this case are precooked. But in addition there are various raw flours and/or starches, such as rice, wheat, corn, and potato. These latter are inedible when uncooked from the standpoint of both digestibility and safety.

Some gnocchi recipes recommend floury potatoes instead, such as Idaho potatoes or Russet potatoes, but I don't always agree. They're too mealy. Tipo 00 Flour is a soft, fine milled flour from Italy. It's a must-have for light and tender gnocchi and homemade pasta.

Cook gnocchi:

Bring a large pot water to a boil; add 1 tablespoon salt. Add half of the gnocchi; when they rise to the top (after about 2 minutes), continue to cook until tender, about 15 seconds more.

Your gnocchi may be mushy because of any or all of the following reasons: boiled the potatoes instead of baked them. used waxy new potatoes with too much moisture in them. not used eggs to help texture.

In a non-stick frying pan fry the Filled Pan-Fry Gnocchi following the pack instructions. Meanwhile, place the pesto and burrata in small bowls. Serve the Filled Pan-Fry Gnocchi with the bowls of pesto and burrata dips.

Adding too much flour all at once

It is very easy to add too much flour to gnocchi dough, which can make these dumplings glutinous, gummy, and sticky. If you dump all of the flour into your gnocchi dough at once, you won't have the same texture as a gnocchi that has just enough flour to bring it together.

Unlike potato gnocchi, Roman gnocchi (Gnocchi alla romana), are made with semolina instead of potatoes and flour, that's why they are also called Semolina gnocchi. Roman gnocchi are shaped differently than potato gnocchi.

pasta, neither is really the better option. Regular pasta is higher in protein and has small amounts of some nutrients, while gnocchi is lower in calories and carbohydrates. But because gnocchi is smaller and denser, it's likely that you'd end up eating bigger portions than if you were eating regular pasta.

What does the word gnocchi mean in Italian? ›

The word gnocchi may be derived from the Italian word nocchio, meaning 'a knot in wood', or from nocca, meaning 'knuckle'. It has been a traditional type of Italian pasta since Roman times. It was introduced by the Roman legions during the expansion of the empire into the countries of the European continent.

Like pasta, gnocchi is the perfect vessel for a variety of delicious sauces, from tomato, bolognese and quick butter sauce with sage to creamy gnocchi sauces.

After your gnocchi is cooked and drained, you can toss it with any sauce and/or vegetables you want. Store bought gnocchi is great with marinara, pesto, bolognese ragu, sun-dried tomato sauce – and this tomato-mushroom sauce, of course.

We like to pair them with TJ's bruschetta sauce, which claims to be a “topping”—but we think actually makes a really nice pasta sauce. Loaded with fresh basil and garlic, it makes a super fresh, bright-tasting sauce for a big, easy skillet dinner of cauliflower gnocchi with sausage and arugula.