Gluten Free Gnocchi

After a few not-so-successful, pre-culinary school attempts at making homemade gnocchi, we resigned ourselves to this being a “dine out only” option.  Adding the gluten free wrinkle to the mix made that resignation even more resolute.  Neither of us having ready access to the expertise and tutelage of a proverbial Italian grandmother didn’t exactly help matters.  Enter Ideas in Food.  Their experimentation with the basic technique of making these classic potato dumplings went a long way toward demystifying the process.  Kyle has actually had this recipe bookmarked FOREVER, and now that he’s finally gotten around to making it, it was so simple that he’s been kicking himself for taking so long.

As the fine folks over at Ideas in Food were only looking to streamline the recipe (very successfully, might we add), the creation of a gluten free version was a happy coincidence, as by their own admission, that was not their intention.  They ended up using cornstarch as the binder of choice, thus eliminating the need for any traditional wheat flour and viola!—Gluten free gnocchi.

While the original recipe only called for three ingredients (potatoes, cornstarch and salt–making them vegan, btw), our version calls for an egg, which is a common addition to this dough throughout much of Italy.  We felt gave the dough a more cohesive, less “delicate” texture.  These gnocchi are sturdy without being rubbery or chewy, as can happen with poorly made dough. (Been there.)  This simple dough results in dumplings that are tender and creamy.  They are the perfect vehicle for your favorite sauce, but we’ll get into that in a bit.  There are a few elements to this recipe that make it practically foolproof and make a noticeable difference in the feel of the dough and overall quality of the cooked dumplings.

First, the potatoes are peeled and cooked whole in a bowl placed inside of a pressure cooker with a little bit of water.  We’re not sure of the science behind this in terms of the texture, but it saves cooking time, and since you only have to peel the potatoes—and can skip cutting them—it shaves off a fair amount of prep time, as well.  Frankly, we were too happy with the end result to question this method, but if you don’t have a pressure cooker, feel free to go with the tried and true boiling method.  You’ll just have to cube the potatoes to keep the cooking time down. (Suckers!)

The next element that contributed to the success of this recipe, which we were equally disinterested in challenging, was to put the cooked potatoes through either a ricer or a food mill.  While this might seem overly fussy—particularly if you don’t yet own one of those kitchen gadgets—it makes a tremendous amount of difference in the consistency, making for silky smooth potatoes.  Even if all you’re making is simple mashed potatoes, it’s well worth the extra step and the investment in one or the other tool.  We’ve found well-reviewed versions of both on Amazon for under $30.

The final element, once the dough has been rolled into long “ropes” and cut into individual dumplings is to place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and let them hang out in the fridge for a half-an-hour or so.  This resting and chilling process is fairly common with gluten free doughs, particularly in baking.

While traditional wheat and other gluten containing flours hydrate fairly quickly and thoroughly, their gluten free counterparts can take their sweet time about it.  That’s why the extra time is so important.  It allows the starches in the dough to gel, binding the ingredients together and giving the dough enough structure to withstand the cooking process without either becoming undesirably tough, or falling apart in the sauce.  In handling the dough both before and after the resting period, there was a noticeable difference in its texture and durability, so again, we will never doubt the culinary genius of the fine folks at Ideas in Food.

We cut our gnocchi into slightly larger pieces for a more rustic looking dish, because to us, Rustic=Cool.  Of course, the smaller, more familiar shape will do just as well if that’s more to your liking.  Once the dumplings have been chilled, depending on the size of the batch, you could bag and freeze them for future use.  Once they’re frozen, you don’t even have to bother defrosting them before cooking.  Simply add a few minutes to the boiling time and you’re good to go.

After the gnocchi are cooked and drained, toss them in a pan of warm sauce and serve under a mountain of fresh grated parmesan cheese and a chiffonade of herbs.  We’re partial to the Simple Tomato Sauce found in our Chicken Meatballs post.  This particular sauce, aside from being simple and delicious, has the practical appeal of coming together in roughly the same amount of time as the gnocchi themselves.  If you’re in need of something a little fancier, you can give the gnocchi those traditional “ridges” by rolling them along the back of the tines of a dinner fork.  If you happen to own a gnocchi board, you can roll the dumplings down it right into the pot of salted, boiling water for a nice game of “Everyone into the Hot Tub.”  (PS – If you give them all funny little voices as they take their plunges, it make for minutes worth of fun for the whole family.)  Those little ridges come in handy for holding onto sauces.

Another wonderful option is a gorgonzola cream sauce, which can be a little time consuming, but so worth it.  If you don’t have that extra time, a great way around that is to toss some crumbled gorgonzola cheese into the hot gnocchi, finish it with some torn arugula, drizzle with a nice balsamic reduction, then garnish with some shave pecorino romano cheese for an elegant, flavorful main course that will wow and please even the most discerning crowd.  This fabulous, basic gnocchi recipe opens up so many serving possibilities that the world will be your oyster.  Or your dumpling.  Potato/Potatah.  Enjoy!

Adapted from Ideas in Food.

Gluten Free Gnocchi

 

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Ingredients

• 1 pound peeled Russet potatoes
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 large egg

Instructions

1. Put the potatoes in a bowl that fits inside a pressure cooker. Season the potatoes with the salt. Put 1 inch of water in the bottom of the pressure cooker and put the bowl inside.
2. Cook the potatoes on high pressure for 23 minutes. Let the pressure dissipate by running the pressure cooker under cold running water.
3. Remove the potatoes from the pressure cooker and press them through a food mill or potato ricer. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the potatoes and fold it into the mixture. Knead the egg into the potato mixture until a homogeneous dough forms.
4. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and shape each portion into a long rope shape about ¾-inch thick. Slice each “rope” into ½-inch thick dumplings.
5. Put the dumplings onto a parchment paper lined pan. Refrigerate the gnocchi until they are cold. Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes. Remove the gnocchi from the boiling water and finish in sauce.

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