Ingredients
- 5 lbs. potatoes, peeled, boiled and drained
- flour (about 4-5 cups)
- sprinkle of salt
Mash or rice potatoes while hot until almost lump free Make a *volcanoe* of flour on a counter/board/table Place potatoes in the center. With you fingers or a fork slowly mix in flour until a somewhat sticky dough forms adding flour as necessary so it doesn''t stick to your hands. break of a chunk of this dough and form into a long rope about 3/4" in diameter. Cut role into 3/4" pieces.
It gets confusing here, you form them into little shells by *smooshing* against the table or a fork to create a design on the outside of each little gnocchi. (gnocchi in Italian is suppose to mean some kind of snail shell I think.)
Place all of the gnocchi on a large platter until all dough is used up, flouring well so they don''t stick to each other.
Place a large pan of water (really large) on to boil. When it comes to a boil, add about 1 Tbs. of salt. Slowly drop in the gnocchi. Stir once (they sink to the bottom) As they rise, remove with slotted spoon to serving dish or bowl. pour sauce over and enjoy. They are truly awesome with a nice basil tomato sauce.
You can also make them with fat free Ricotta. For every container of Ricotta, add 2 containers of flour and omit the potatoes, but the potatoes are my favorite.
Donna Henderson Henderson@MITLNS.MIT.EDU