Gnocchi: Another Delicious Choice In Italian

“Gnocchi? What’s that?” you might ask, if all you know about Italian food is pasta, pizza, and gelato.

However, if you are a true fan of Italian food, you’ve most likely eaten gnocchi some time.

But if you haven’t, you’ve at least heard of them and are curious to try them.

Whether you’re a fan or not, gnocchi are another delicious choice offered by Italy’s gastronomy. Do you want to know more? Just read on.

A surprising variety

To get a better idea of what gnocchi are, we need to know the meaning of this Italian word.

Gnocchi is the plural form of gnocco, which can be translated as ‘dumpling’.

So that’s exactly what gnocchi are: boiled dumplings eaten with a great number of toppings and accompaniments.

You’ll surely be surprised by the variety of gnocchi recipes available nowadays.

The typical gnocchi were and are made mostly of mashed potatoes, and this variety is the best known outside Italy.

However, there are also gnocchi made from wheat flour, cornstarch, breadcrumbs, vegetable puree, or a mixture of these.

“The other pasta”

Gnocchi are made in a very different way from normal pasta. While gnocchi, once kneaded into little balls, are cooked in boiling water and are ready to eat, the different varieties of pasta, after being kneaded for a long time and given the desired shape —short, long, rolled, etc.—, are usually dried for preservation.

It may take considerable time before pasta is finally cooked in boiling water. Dried and packaged pasta is what you usually find in supermarkets.

Despite this important difference, gnocchi can be eaten with virtually all the same toppings, sauces and accompaniments as pasta.

In fact, in past times, when homemade food was almost the only food available, gnocchi replaced pasta dishes whenever, for various reasons —for example, a bad harvest or increased milling rates—, wheat flour became more expensive than other starchy foods.

Potatoes and other vegetables were usually cheaper and more readily available.

Even today, gnocchi is still considered “the other pasta” by a lot of people, and it is not uncommon to find gnocchi recipes in pasta recipe books.

Super-easy gnocchi alla Bolognese

You already know that gnocchi can be enjoyed with the same types of sauce as semolina pasta.

Why not prepare gnocchi with the world’s best-known Italian sauce? So let’s make gnocchi alla Bolognese with this super-easy recipe.

You will need:

• Ready-made gnocchi from the supermarket. They come in various flavours, so you can choose the one you prefer.
• Ready-made Bolognese sauce from any supermarket.
• A little Parmesan cheese.
• A few sprigs of parsley or coriander to garnish the dish.

A previous step: If your gnocchi are frozen, defrost overnight by taking them out of the freezer and putting them in the fridge —away from the innermost part of the fridge cabinet.

Then proceed as follows:

1. Pour water into a sauce pan and place it on the cooker. The water should be enough to cover completely the portion of gnocchi to be consumed.
2. Turn on the heat and bring the water to a boil.
3. When the water starts to boil, pour in the gnocchi. You will see that the boiling disappears, but be careful —the water is still very hot.
4. When the water comes back to the boil, stir the gnocchi lightly and occasionally so that they separate completely and cook more evenly.
5. Let boil for 10 minutes. You can take out a gnocco from time to time to check that it’s warmed through.
6. After 5 minutes of boiling, you can heat the portion of Bolognese sauce you’re going to use. Heat it up in another pan or in a microwave oven.
7. Just after 10 minutes of boiling, turn off the heat and remove the gnocchi with a sieve. Let them drain.
8. When the gnocchi are well drained, transfer them to a plate.

Caution: Don’t boil the gnocchi much longer than 10 minutes, or you will make potato “soup” instead! Don’t forget the sauce that you’re heating up.

Once the gnocchi are on the plate:

9. Pour three or four spoonfuls of hot Bolognese sauce over the hot gnocchi.
10. Grate some Parmesan cheese over the sauce.
11. Put a sprig of parsley or coriander on top for decoration.

Your gnocchi alla Bolognese are now ready!

Another cooking method

If you prefer, instead of heating your gnocchi in boiling water, you can heat them in a frying pan. Do as follows:

1. Take a frying pan and put it on the cooker.
2. Turn on a medium heat.
3. Add a teaspoon or two of olive oil.
4. Put the cold gnocchi into the pan.
5. Stir and turn occasionally, until golden brown on both sides.
6. When gnocchi get golden brown, pour several spoonfuls of Bolognese sauce and heat the mixture for some more minutes. 
7. Turn off the heat and put the mixture on a plate.
8. Add grated cheese and finely chopped parsley.

Enjoy your plate of “the other pasta”!