Easy Potato Gnocchi With Brown Butter Spinach
Gnocchi so easy you'll be making it in your sleep.
Making your own pasta can seem intimidating but if you have two hands and the ability to roll out tubes of dough, trust us, you'll be fine.
- 2 large potatoes (just under a pound)
- 1 cup organic 00 flour
- 1 large organic egg yolk, beaten
- 1 tablespoon cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cups of spinach
- 4 cremini mushrooms (optional)
- 2 tablespoons pecorino cheese
Preheat oven to 325° F. Stab your potatoes all over with a fork (the goal is to release ALL moisture) and roast the potatoes until fully and cooked through, about 50 minutes but if your potatoes are fresh (mine were) it takes about 40 minutes.
Be very careful but immediately take the potatoes out of their skin and put your potato through a potato ricer. As I don't have a potato ricer, I just used a grater using a silicone glove so I didn't burn my hands. Just make sure it's finely grated.
Mix your potatoes with 1 cup of flour on a cutting board. The way to do this without creating a complete kitchen disaster is to sprinkle the potatoes around your flour and then work your way in. Shape this into a mountain and put a well in the middle (like you do with your mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving). Put your beaten egg yolk here so the mess is *contained.*
Combine eggs and potato/flour mixture until just mixed through. The dough should be a little sticky but if it's chewing gum vibes add a little more flour.
DO NOT KNEAD YOUR TENDER GENTLE GNOCCHI. We aren't trying to develop gluten here, just airy pocket of pasta love.
Shape into a log and rest for 15 minutes.
Dust your counter or cutting board with flour and cut a 1-inch-wide piece of dough. From here you are going to roll it out into a thin log. Try to keep everything one inch (roll into a 1 inch thick log, then cut one inch mini logs from your original log).
Now, you can decide what you want to do. Slap your gnocchi in the freezer to use for a later date or just keep in freezer until you're done rolling them out for immediate consumption (yes, no matter what, put your pasta in the freezer for now).
For your brown butter get out a flat bottom sauté pan and heat up your olive oil and butter and let brown. Once golden toss in your spinach to wilt. Put spinach in a bowl and set aside leaving your pan handy because you'll need it again.
To cook your gnocchi bring a pot of water that's salted to a boil and cook for 3 minutes (until they float to the top and stay there for a minute). From there, heat up some more butter in the pan you used for your spinach, strain those gnocchi and brown them, as you would a dumpling, in the pan with butter. Do in batches (each gnocchi needs pan-space, don't crowd them!).
Once all your gnocchi have been browned combine with wilted spinach in brown butter. If you'd like a bit of earthiness add some browned mushrooms. Top with your grated pecorino (TBH I use about half a cup) and add salt/pepper to taste. If you want a zing of freshness squeeze half a lemon and zest it's rind on top.
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