Gluten free Gnocchi

You may expect something that is made from potatoes to be gluten free... but this is not the case with shop bought gnocchi. This italian staple is great comfort food at this time of year and much easier to make than intially anticipated.

This recipe is based on the basic gnocchi recipe on Italian cookery bible - Silver Spoon, but uses potato flour (or potato starch) in place of the wheatflour. The amounts below make enough for four reasonable portions - including super quick supper simple gnocchi with pesto, olive oil and parmesan. Only problem is it uses half a beaten egg - as 1kg of potatoes seemed enough to feed an Italian army... I used the leftovers to make gluten free brownies. Shame.

Potato Gnocchi
Ingredients
500g potatoes
80g potato flour
Half a beaten egg
Salt

Method

Steam the potatoes for 25 minutes - of until completely soft and mash into a bowl while still hot.

Stir in the flour, egg and a pinch of salt then knead to make a soft dough.

NOTE - be careful with the ratio of potato to flour. Too much flour and the dough makes the gnocchi like bullets. Not enough they disintergrate on boiling.

Shape the dough into long rolls about 1.5cm diameter and cut into 2cm lengths.

Press them gently with a fork to flatten slightly with indentations and arrange on a clean towel dusted with flour.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil and drop in the gnocchi a few at a time, removing them when they float to the surface.

Keep cooked ones on warm plate before dousing with your chosen sauce such as a meaty ragu or pesto.

NOTE - to keep, do not cook them in the water. Store them in an airtight container until you want to eat them. Then just drop into a pan of boiling water as above.