Clean recipe · nowcookthis.com
Instant Potato Gnocchi
These quick and easy Instant Potato Gnocchi save you time and take the guesswork out of making homemade gnocchi. Ready in only about 30 minutes, they always turn out soft, light and fluffy!
Original recipe: nowcookthis.com
- Yield:
- 4 servings
- Prep:
- 20 min
- Cook:
- 3 min
- Total:
- 28 min
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Ingredients
- 2 cups instant mashed potato flakes (plain/unflavored)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting your work surface)
- 1 teaspoon salt (plus more for the cooking water (I use regular table salt in this recipe))
- 1½ cups water (cool to lukewarm)
- 1 large egg (lightly beaten)
Instructions
- Place the instant potato flakes, flour and salt in a large bow; stir to combine.
- Add the water and beaten egg; stir until well-combined.The mixture will be loose at first, but as you mix, it will quickly thicken up.
- Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes.During this time, the potato flakes and the flour will absorb the liquid and the mixture will become more firm like a dough.
- Lightly flour your work surface. Gather the dough into a ball, place it on your work surface and sprinkle the top lightly with flour. Knead the dough for a minute or two, just until it becomes more smooth and workable. Sprinkle the dough and/or work surface with flour, a little at a time, if you experience any sticking while kneading.Be careful not to overwork the dough, as this can make your gnocchi dense and tough. You just want to take it to the point where it won't fall apart when you roll out the ropes in the next steps. It shouldn't take any more than 1 to 2 minutes.
- Shape the kneaded dough into a ball and cut it into 6 equal pieces.
- Cover a large baking sheet or tray with parchment paper and sprinkle the paper with flour and set aside; you will put your finished cut and shaped gnocchi here later.
- Put 4 quarts of salted water on to boil in a large pot and move on to the next steps.I do about 2 teaspoons of table salt in the water; you can adjust this amount to suit your own tastes.
- Lightly flour your work surface. Take one piece of dough and, with your hands, roll it into a rope that is ¾ inch thick (about 10½ inches long).
- Cut the rope into ¾-inch pieces (I usually get 14 pieces out of each rope).
- At this point, you decide how you want to shape the gnocchi. You can leave them as is, or you can simply make an indentation in the center of each one with your thumb. I prefer to shape them the more traditional way as follows:Place one piece of dough on the tines of a fork. Press down with your thumb to make an indentation in the center. Then gently roll the piece of dough over on the fork until the two ends almost touch. The end result should be one side with ridges from the fork and one side with a small indentation (see photo #8 in the post).You can also do this same process with a gnocchi board if you have one, but I think that a fork works just fine.
- As you finish shaping the gnocchi, place them on the prepared baking sheet/tray in a single layer with space between them so they don't touch.
- Repeat the rolling, cutting and shaping steps for each of the 5 remaining pieces of dough. Lightly sprinkle your work surface before rolling each one.
- Carefully place half of the gnocchi into the boiling water and give them a quick, gentle stir to prevent them from sticking together.Be careful because the dough is very delicate! I like to use a flat spatula to transfer the gnocchi to the boiling water; it enables me to easily and quickly move several at a time.
- Cook the gnocchi until they float to the surface of the water. This will happen quickly in about 1½ to 2 minutes. Keep a close eye on them, as you don't want to overcook them (they can become mushy and fall apart).
- Carefully remove the gnocchi from the water with a slotted spoon and put them in a single layer on a large plate or tray.Alternately, if you have a sauce prepared, you can transfer them directly from the water to the sauce.
- Repeat with the second half of the gnocchi (if needed, bring the water back up to a boil first).
- At this point, your gnocchi are ready to toss with whatever sauce you are using or to use in any recipe that calls for gnocchi. Enjoy!