Preparation

• Bring the water to a boil and when it boils, lower the heat to the minimum and pour all the flour into the pot.

  Mix quickly with a long-handled spoon until the flour pulls away from the sides of the pot (which happens almost immediately) and clumps into a rough mixture.

  This is a very quick operation, the flour absorbs the water in seconds. For this reason, after a couple of trials, I abandoned the 50/50 water/flour ratio I had initially tried in favor of a greater amount of water: perhaps because I usually use flour type 0 or 1 and not 00 (which I had found in some recipes), or maybe because I am not fast enough at stirring with the spoon, but with half water and half flour, the flour firmed up too quickly and left lumps in the mixture. It’s true that they would then meld during kneading, but in my opinion, they left the flour raw and in the final taste, you could somewhat perceive it.

  Transfer the mixture to the work surface and knead it immediately (as soon as your hands can bear the heat).

  It’s best to work the dough while it’s hot, you can even divide it into two or three pieces to help disperse the heat.

  When the dough is well combined and smooth, you can cover it with a bowl and let it rest for 15-30 minutes (during which I usually prepare the sauce).

  

• If you’re in a hurry, you can proceed immediately with making the gnocchi, skipping the rest; I’ve tried this and didn’t notice any significant differences in the final result.

  To make the gnocchi, proceed in the classic way: shaping the rolls, cutting the gnocchi, and – a must in my house – pressing each gnocchi with the tip of your index finger, one by one, to form the indentation.

  To speed things up, you can use both hands simultaneously, meaning both index fingers, something I can’t show you as I inevitably have to hold the camera with one hand. 😀

  

• The indentation is a tradition in my house. My mom has always made her potato gnocchi this way (and I’ve always done so too) because thanks to the indentation, each gnocchi holds the sauce better.

  Among the videos on my Facebook page you can see this short video that illustrates the ease of executing this ‘home-style gnocchi indentation’ (but also of many other homes). Take a look!

  If you don’t like this method – or if you’re used to rolling the gnocchi behind the tines of a fork or on the appropriate gnocchi board – that’s fine too, this base dough is pliable and can be shaped into various forms.

  And then the beauty of these manipulations of gnocchi, whatever they may be, is that they are a great way to entertain or “work” (depending on their age) our children. 😀

  Here they are, my children’s hands!

• 

• Final step: cooking.

  As for all gnocchi, cooking is very quick: pour the gnocchi into the boiling water, stir them, wait for the water to resume boiling and for the gnocchi to float to the surface shortly after. At that point, collect them with a slotted spoon and transfer them to the pan with the sauce.

  

• If you decide to make them in abundance, these gnocchi can be frozen (potato ones are also very well preserved in the freezer).

  I tried freezing them the last time I made them, that is when right at the last moment while I was rolling the logs… my husband came home with pizzas!!! 😀 So I quickly finished preparing them and put them in the freezer.

  A recommendation: to freeze the gnocchi in the best way, put them in the freezer spread out and separated from each other (on a tray like the one you see in the first of the three previous photos). After less than an hour, they will be quite hardened and dry enough to be transferred to a freezer bag without fear that they will turn into a single frozen mass.

  Here they are, my frozen water and flour gnocchi:

  

• When it comes to cooking, frozen gnocchi should be treated the same as fresh ones: drop them into boiling water (frozen) and wait for them to float to the surface. Naturally, they will take a few more minutes to float because they need time to thaw, and because the water will take longer to resume boiling. The final result will be excellent and identical to that of freshly made gnocchi.

  Finally, if you don’t have time to shape the gnocchi right away, it’s possible to store the dough in the fridge, wrapped in plastic wrap. In this case, when it comes time to prepare the gnocchi, it’s best not to work the dough while cold but to take it out of the fridge ahead of time to let it warm to room temperature.

  Enjoy!

  I’ll leave you with a photo of my flour gnocchi topped with a classic sauce: meat and pea sauce. Then in the next recipe I’ll tell you about a more ‘modern’ but equally tasty sauce 🙂

  See you soon!