Gnocchi are one of my absolutely family favorite dishes and one of the most popular dishes in Italy. They are small potatoes dumplings made with boiled potatoes, eggs and flour served with a nice sauce. They are to die for and my kids adore gnocchi.

I’m Italian so I grew up making gnocchi starting at the age of 5 with my Nonna (Grandma).

In Italy making gnocchi is a family affair, we all get together for the day and we work hard, even the kids. Yes the kids help too and it’s so much fun for them. They have to roll the gnocchi dough and make some small gnocchi balls. Also they have fun sprinkling the flour everywhere because the trick when you make gnocchi is to use lots of flour so they don’t stick together.

I highly suggest making gnocchi with your kids and starting a “tradition” like I did with my kids.

This is my family recipe and hope that you will enjoy it:

Ingredients:

• 1 kg potatoes
• 3oo grams flour
• 1 egg (you can also make gnocchi without egg)
• A sprinkle of love

Method:

Boil the potatoes in their skins. Drain and allow standing until cool enough to handle. Scrape skin from potato with paring knife. Press them through a potato ricer. Spread the riced potatoes into a thin, even layer on the work surface and allow it to cool completely.

Now you put the flour on a clean surface and you add the egg and slowly the flour, mix for 5/10 minutes with a lot of love and when the dough is nice and firm it is time to roll with your hands. Now it’s time for make your kids work. Take off a handful of the dough and roll that with both hands until you have a rope about the thickness of your thumb. Cut this rope in 2.5 cm lengths. Bring each piece of dough and flip it with your index finger against the inside of your fork. With this technique the gnocchi will catch any sauce :).

Place your gnocchi on a lightly floured baking sheet. Cook them in boiling water with salt. They are done when they rise to the surface of the water. Put them right away in a big bowl and dressed them with your favorite sauce.

I suggest a nice Bolognese sauce or (more quick) butter and sage sauce.

If you make a big batch you have to put a towel on your baking sheet with a lot of flour, put the gnocchi on it and  freeze them for a couple of hours. After that you can put them in zip lock bag

Boil the gnocchi in water until they float on the surface and are ready to eat.

Enjoy