Adventures with gnocchi

New year, new challenges...The first was making gnocchi. I've often thought about this, but never done it before.

It sounds a bit fiddly, but then what are holidays for?

There are all kinds of gnocchi - semolina-based, flour-based, even spinach and ricotta, but these were made from potato, flour and egg. The accompanying sauce would be a rich tomato ragu, topped with portobello mushrooms.

I have to admit I wasn't overwhelmed with the results. The sauce was lovely - I will definitely make it again to serve with pappardelle or other pasta - but the gnocchi were well, a bit heavy. I'm not sure whether they were supposed to be like that or not. I've had lighter ones in restaurants, but they may not have been potato-based. And the long-life kind you can buy in a vacuum pack are usually pretty dense. They tasted nice enough though. I think making them smaller might have helped with the heaviness.

Serves 4-8 (depending on how greedy you are) as a main course 

Ingredients

600g floury potatoes
500g flour
1 egg

For the sauce
3 celery sticks, diced small
2 carrots, diced small
2 onions (red or white), diced small
2 tins chopped tomatoes
A couple of sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
About a third to half a bottle of red wine
6 large portobello mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Olive oil

Method

For the sauce: Fry the celery, carrots and onion with two of the chopped garlic cloves in a little olive oil for five minutes. Add the tomatoes, rosemary and a third of a bottle of red wine. Simmer for at least 45 minutes or until the sauce is thick. If it starts to get too dry, add a little water or some more red wine if you prefer.

Cut the mushrooms into strips and fry with a little olive oil and the other clove of chopped garlic.

For the gnocchi: Wash the potatoes and boil them whole, with skins on, until tender (this will depend on the size of your spuds). Peel them as soon as they are cool enough to handle and mash or pass through a ricer. Mix in the beaten egg and then stir in the flour. Mix well and knead for a few minutes. It should be moist but not wet - add a little more flour if it seems too sticky.
Shape a manageable amount of the dough into a long sausage and cut into pieces about half an inch wide and half an inch long. You are supposed to mark it with the back of a fork to make ridges for the sauce to cling to, but to be honest I didn't find that doing this or not made much difference. Cook them in boiling water for a few minutes - they are ready when they float to the surface.

Serve with the sauce and top with the mushrooms. You can serve with some grated parmesan, if you wish.