I'm a proud Italian, so one of the things I've missed the most since going gluten free is pasta. I know there is "rice pasta" out there, but I've yet to try it; my regular store doesn't carry it, and I just haven't gone out of my way yet to find it. I will; but I also own my own pasta maker so I plan to try that, and in the meantime I have always loved making- and eating!- gnocchi the best.
Having a potato base and not many other ingredients, gnocchi is a pretty easy recipe to alter for gluten-free. So today I ventured into the kitchen to try out a recipe I found on the Celiac home site (from Paula Santos), but as usual, I've decided to alter it, and am happy with the results.
This recipe also doesn't call for milk, with margarine instead. My bible Italiana - the Silver Spoon - has eight gnocchi recipes in it, and the Gnocchi Alla Bava is without milk, also using butter. So I gave this recipe the ok- the rest call for a LOT of milk, and I've used soy in the past for those. It does call for a little parmesan, which doesn't bother me as much as milk, but it is also optional. Your choice.
Preppin' the Taters
First, I learned, on the TV show House of all things, that baking the potatoes dries them out better than boiling or steaming, for obvious drier reasons, and thus making the gnocchi hold together better. Don't bother to peel the potatoes first, just poke a few holes and bake them for 60-90 minutes. The recipe calls for 2 lbs, but I made all the rest of the purple potatoes we had from our CSA (fun!), and plan on freezing some pasta for the future. Always the best plan! When they're soft to poke with a fork, half them, and let them cool. Then scoop out the center and put in a bowl.
Directions
Mix all ingredients with hands. Knead lightly. Shape small portions of the dough into long snakes. On a floured surface, cut snakes into small pieces. Place a few gnocchi in salted boiling water. As the gnocchi rise to the top of the pot, remove them with a slotted spoon. Repeat until all are cooked. Cover with hot tomato sauce and serve.
Added bonus tonight!
A dear friend dropped off two packs of ground elk meat yesterday, so I'm using my homemade marinara with some elk meat on the top. The Silver Spoon has some great marinara sauces, as did my great-grandmother- my mother made her sauce by the gallons and froze them, so we always had fresh sauce for pasta. I suggest you do the same; Ragu just doesn't taste the same! But if that's all you've got, spruce it up with some red wine and fresh herbs!
I also plan on trying a lactose free white sauce so you can see the purple gnocchi better, so stay tuned for that!
Fun last question: How does YOUR family say Gnocchi? My great grandmother, who handed her own Italian recipes down to my mother, always said it "yNawwki" and I love all the different ways to say it. :)
(And for those who've been following along and are curious, I will likely stay fairly gluten free forever- my psoriasis is nearly gone, I figure a few more months and the last of the patches will slowly disappear!)
Having a potato base and not many other ingredients, gnocchi is a pretty easy recipe to alter for gluten-free. So today I ventured into the kitchen to try out a recipe I found on the Celiac home site (from Paula Santos), but as usual, I've decided to alter it, and am happy with the results.
This recipe also doesn't call for milk, with margarine instead. My bible Italiana - the Silver Spoon - has eight gnocchi recipes in it, and the Gnocchi Alla Bava is without milk, also using butter. So I gave this recipe the ok- the rest call for a LOT of milk, and I've used soy in the past for those. It does call for a little parmesan, which doesn't bother me as much as milk, but it is also optional. Your choice.
Ingredients
2 lb cooked mashed PURPLE potatoes
(right)
1 cup white rice flour
¾ cup potato starch
¼ cup corn starch
1 tablespoon margarine
1 tablespoon grated parmesan (optional)
2 eggs
salt
Preppin' the Taters
First, I learned, on the TV show House of all things, that baking the potatoes dries them out better than boiling or steaming, for obvious drier reasons, and thus making the gnocchi hold together better. Don't bother to peel the potatoes first, just poke a few holes and bake them for 60-90 minutes. The recipe calls for 2 lbs, but I made all the rest of the purple potatoes we had from our CSA (fun!), and plan on freezing some pasta for the future. Always the best plan! When they're soft to poke with a fork, half them, and let them cool. Then scoop out the center and put in a bowl.
Directions
Mix all ingredients with hands. Knead lightly. Shape small portions of the dough into long snakes. On a floured surface, cut snakes into small pieces. Place a few gnocchi in salted boiling water. As the gnocchi rise to the top of the pot, remove them with a slotted spoon. Repeat until all are cooked. Cover with hot tomato sauce and serve.
Added bonus tonight!
A dear friend dropped off two packs of ground elk meat yesterday, so I'm using my homemade marinara with some elk meat on the top. The Silver Spoon has some great marinara sauces, as did my great-grandmother- my mother made her sauce by the gallons and froze them, so we always had fresh sauce for pasta. I suggest you do the same; Ragu just doesn't taste the same! But if that's all you've got, spruce it up with some red wine and fresh herbs!
I also plan on trying a lactose free white sauce so you can see the purple gnocchi better, so stay tuned for that!
Fun last question: How does YOUR family say Gnocchi? My great grandmother, who handed her own Italian recipes down to my mother, always said it "yNawwki" and I love all the different ways to say it. :)
(And for those who've been following along and are curious, I will likely stay fairly gluten free forever- my psoriasis is nearly gone, I figure a few more months and the last of the patches will slowly disappear!)
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