Bring Italian Restaurant Vibes to Your Kitchen Tonight With This Gnocchi Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What do Italians eat with gnocchi? ›

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.

The Gnudi, or spinach and ricotta gnocchi, is a typical recipe from Tuscany, usually served with a simple tomato sauce or with butter and sage. In fancy restaurants, sometimes these are served with very special aged parmesan cheese like pecorino or with a slice of lard that melts in contact with the hot gnocchi.

Potato gnocchi are particularly popular in Abruzzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, and Lazio.

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.

While gnocchi are a traditional Italian pasta shape, what makes them distinct is that they use potatoes as the main ingredient. Therefore, they're commonly considered to be a dumpling. Like many dishes in Italian cuisine, gnocchi vary in both name, appearance, and recipe across the regions of lo Stivale.

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.

Gnocchi is a pillowy Italian dish you can serve as a side dish, appetizer, or main dish.

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.

What is this? If you've never tried pan frying gnocchi, you are in for a treat! Forget boiling it, you can actually just toss it in a skillet and cook it. This means less dishes, as it's all cooked in one skillet and crispy, pan fried gnocchi is the result.

Is it better to bake or boil gnocchi? ›

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.

Compared to pasta, pizza or other types of food made from refined flour, gnocchi made only with potatoes and water have a lower glycemic index, despite the fact that the primary nutrients are carbs. Therefore, gnocchi can be a healthier option if chosen carefully.

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.

Gnocchetti sardi, however, are a different story. This pasta shares the similar shell shape with gnocchi, but is much, much smaller (approximately 2 cm) and the story of its original name is quite peculiar. Originally from Sardinia, gnocchetti sardi are the oldest and most popular shape of pasta on the island.

Pasta is often served as a primo (first course), with a meat, seafood or vegetable course called a secondo coming after that. To do as the Italians do, try serving a smaller portion of pasta as a primo for an Italian-inspired dinner party, or as precursor to a meat, fish or vegetable main.

For the Hot Gnocchi, saute all the ingredients (except the garnish) on medium flame for a few minutes. Transfer 2 pieces of Gnocchi and some curry to an appetizer spoon, garnish and serve hot. For the Cold Gnocchi, simply mix all ingredients. Chill for a few minutes in the refrigerator to let the flavors mingle.

This comforting and creamy blend of pasta, potatoes and melted cheese is a perfect example of Italy's humble form of peasant cooking known as "cucina povera".