Baked Gnocchi Recipe with Mozzarella - Easy Comfort Food! (2024)

FAQs

Does gnocchi have to be boiled before baking? ›

It comes together on a single baking sheet in right around 30 minutes. No boiling required!

It can be sauced and served in typical pasta style or tossed with fresh veggies for a lighter dish. Gnocchi can be added to soups and stews, fried until crispy or roasted in the oven with meat and vegetables for a sheet pan dinner.

Always bake potatoes in their skins to make gnocchi from. It removes maximum moisture from the potato. Don't bake them in advance as you need to use them as soon as they come out of the oven. Juggling hot potatoes is not easy but if you leave them to cool the starch changes and your gnocchi will be inedible.

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.

Don't overwork the dough: When making gnocchi dough, it's important not to overwork it. Overworking the dough can make the gnocchi tough and chewy. Mix the ingredients together just until the dough comes together, and then stop mixing! You're not kneading bread here.

Roast, stirring once or twice, until gnocchi are golden and starting to crisp, most of the tomatoes have burst, and onion is golden, 25–30 minutes.

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.

The word gnocchi may be derived from the Italian word nocchio, meaning a knot in wood, or from nocca, meaning knuckle. It has been a traditional type of Italian pasta since Roman times. It was introduced by the Roman legions during the expansion of the empire into the countries of the European continent.

So instead of boiling or baking a package of gnocchi on a Wednesday night and wishing it tasted more like the pillowy homemade version, I broil it. Yep, that's right: I rip open one of those shelf-stable packages, toss the gnocchi with a tablespoon of olive oil, a lot of grated Parmesan cheese and a little bit of salt.

does take a bit of time to make, not because the. ingredients are expensive. They're potatoes.

Can you cook gnocchi in sauce instead of water? ›

There is no need to pre-cook the gnocchi. It'll cook in the sauce. The sauce is meant to be quite thick, but if you find it gets too dry before the gnocchi is cooked, add in another splash of chicken broth or wine.

Some gnocchi recipes recommend floury potatoes instead, such as Idaho potatoes or Russet potatoes, but I don't always agree. They're too mealy. Tipo 00 Flour is a soft, fine milled flour from Italy. It's a must-have for light and tender gnocchi and homemade pasta.

Russets are dryer and hold less water, making them ideal for gnocchi making. Because of their dry and starchy texture, they may require less flour than other varieties, yielding an airier texture, and making them an excellent choice for a beginner or anyone who wants a no-fuss gnocchi experience.

The Best Potatoes for Gnocchi

Step one: Start with Yukon Gold potatoes. Russets will do, but Yukon Golds have more of the nutty flavor of the yellow-fleshed boiling potatoes used by the Italian and Provençal cooks who have mastered gnocchi.

The basic ingredient of store-bought gnocchi is, of course, potatoes, which in this case are precooked. But in addition there are various raw flours and/or starches, such as rice, wheat, corn, and potato. These latter are inedible when uncooked from the standpoint of both digestibility and safety.

Poach gnocchi in batches in a pan of lightly salted water for 2-4 minutes. Cooked gnocchi will float to the top. Strain and serve immediately with a good pasta sauce. See our how to make gnocchi guide for more information.

Cook them as soon as possible in boiling salted water. (For every 5 quarts of water add 2 tablespoons of kosher salt.) Add the gnocchi to the boiling water. When they rise to the top, let them cook for a minute or two and then remove them with a slotted spoon.