Conference turris::cooks

    mmmmmmmmmmm, mm.
    
    here's a verison for potato gnocchi:
    
    	3 c. flour
    	2 c. mashed potato
    	1 egg
    
    	place all flour on kneading board/table. sculpt out a "hole"
    	in the middle. place the mashed potato in the flour's center.
    	sculpt the potato in the same fashion.	place the egg yolk and
    	white into the middle of the potato. (if you've seen real italian 
    	cooking, you'll know what i mean. if not, think back to the 
    	kindergarten "clay" days! ;-)
    
    	mix dough well by folding it into itself.
    
    	knead 2 - 3 minutes.
    
    	to obtain the gnocchi's unique shape, roll portions of the dough 
    	into "snakes". then cut the snakes into 2" pieces. "curl" the pasta
    	by placing a 2" section in the palm of your hand. use a fork, or
    	your opposite hand's index finger to apply pressure and drag
    	the dough slightly. 
    
    	to cook, place pasta in rapidly boiling water for 8 - 10 min.
    	the pasta is ready when it "floats" in the water.
    
    	drain and tossed with favorite sauce.
    
    	(the dough freezes nicely)
    
    	enjoy! 
    
    	lisa
                                 

    I do the same as .1 with a few variations:
    
    	1. I only use the egg yolk, not the whites  
    	2. add a touch of salt (or garlic salt) 
    
    SO simple and so good. 
    
    Chow ...
    

    On a lighter version instead of potato....Being a full blooded
    Italian...
    1 large container of Ricotta
    1 large (refill) container of flour
    Put Ricotta and (refill) container of flour in a large bowl. Knead
    together.  Cut mixture into 4's. Cut length wise, and roll into what
    looks like a breadstick.  Then cut into 1 inch pieces off this
    (breadstick) roll.  Then curl the 1 inch pieces with your hands.  Place
    in boiling water for about 3 minutes or until the Gnocchi's float to
    the top.  Then put some sauce (tomato) and sprinkle Romano cheese on
    top.  

Hi

I made Gnocchi once a few years ago after trying it in a restaurant (covered in 
a cheese sauce). I used a similar recipe to .1 but it tasted glue and was 
horrible (uggggh!), what on earth did I do wrong??

Dianne

    I love gnocci (and even have one of those little cavatelli
    machines from the north end to fabricate them...)

    Using ricotta as in .3 does make heavenly gnocci's, you can vary the
    amount of cheese if you want to have a less rich version.

    I've often heard the "tastes like glue" complaint about gnocci
    from restaruants where I've had them, so it may be a matter of taste
    and you may not have done anything really wrong.  [The ones at
    Monty's Garden have ricotta in them, but at Sylvesters they don't.
    I had some fantastic spinach and ricotta based gnocci at Il Fornio
    in Palo Alto.]

    - Jim

If you over mash the potatoes (like in a food processor/blender), or overwork the
dough, the gnocci come out heavy and pasty instead of light and delicious.  It's
an easy error to make, that's why my family knicknamed them "sinkers".

    I don't know. I'm Italian, my family just goes nuts over gnocci, but I
    have always thought they tasted gummy.  Just never developed a taste
    for them.  With so many other types of pastas available, I never really
    missed them : ) 
    Sarah

    My favorite is a pesto suce on them... lotsa garlic.. I'm hungry!
    
    Bob

Well, it's nice to hear that other people have said that Gnocchi tastes like 
glue.

Thanks for the hints, perhaps it wasn't my cooking after all.  I know I didn't
overblend the potatoes as I pushed them through a sieve, perhaps I overworked 
the dough.

Dianne

    2 cups cooked spinach, squeezed dry
    1 cup ricotta cheese
    3/4 cup grated Parmesan
    1 egg
    3 tablespoons potato starch
    1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    
    Mix all ingredients and form into balls the size of a walnut.  (wet
    your hands to make rolling easier.)
    
    Bring a large pot of water to boil and drop the dumplings into the
    water, boiling a few at a time.  They will drop to the bottom and rise
    to the surface when they are done.  Remove from water, drain and serve
    with Parmesan cheese as a side dish or with tomato sauce as a light
    meal.  Makes 24 large or 40 small dumplings.
    
    Per gnocchi (24 gnocchi total):  Calories 41; Fat 2g, Cholesterol 15
    mg, Sodium 113 mg, Percent calories from fat, 52%
    
    Reprinted w/o permission from Nashua Telegraph 3/31/93