If you’ve considered, but not yet tried making fresh pasta at home, pillowy little gnocchi are a great place to start! These tender little nubbins are easy to make and taste good simply buttered and tossed with a bit of grated parmesan, or, paired with your favorite spaghetti sauce. Try them with our classic bolognese ragu! 
The soft dough is made with mashed potato and parmesan in the mix. You’ll use your hands to roll it into long ropes, and a sharp knife to cut the ropes into tiny pieces. Before boiling, gnocchi look very much like the butter mints my mom used to put out in candy dishes when company came : ) Tossed into the boiling salt water, the gnocchi swell, bob to the surface and cook to doneness quickly.
Ingredients
- 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed (You will use 1 ½ cup of the potatoes, mashed)
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling out the dough)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp finely ground black pepper
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- ½ cup very finely grated Parmesan
- 1 tsp salt for water used to boil the gnocchi
Instructions
- Fill cooking pot with potato cubes and cover with water. Over medium high heat, heat water until it just begins to boil. Immediately reduce heat to a simmer, cooking potatoes until fork tender. Strain off water; mash potatoes well. Set aside to cool. Layer two sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a wide and shallow mixing bowl, sift 1 ½ cups of the flour with 1 tsp salt and pepper. Add egg and cheeses. Add 1 ½ cup of the cooled mashed potatoes. Stir all together until everything gathers into a soft, ragged dough. Turn out onto a well-floured work surface and knead for a bit until you have a nice soft ball of dough. Pat out dough into a rectangle. Cut rectangle into 8 strips. Place ½ cup flour to the side of your work surface. Sprinkle work surface with a bit of the flour and working one piece at a time, roll out each of the strips into long 1-inch-thick ropes using the palms of your hands and a light pressure. Cut each rope into ½-inch pieces and place them on the parchment lined sheet pans, keeping the gnocchi pieces from touching one another Repeat until all dough is rolled and cut into pieces.
- Add 1 tsp salt to a large pot of water: heat to boiling. Working in small batches, boil the gnocchi until they bob to the surface and are cooked through. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon or mesh strainer and transfer to colander. To serve, toss gnocchi with a bit of butter, parmesan, salt and pepper, and a sprinkling of herbs, or pair with your favorite sauce.
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