Grandma’s Potato Gnocchi with Butter and Sage

Name: Grandma’s Potato Gnocchi with Butter and Sage
Total time: 7200 s
Yield: Serves 2 (generous portions)
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 lb (2 oz) red potatoes or white potatoes for gnocchi (500 grams); 1 cup all-purpose flour (about 150 grams), plus more as needed for shaping; 1 medium egg; Salt, to taste; Fresh parsley, to taste; Fresh sage, to taste; Butter, to taste; Diced pancetta (optional, if desired), to taste; Black pepper (optional, if desired), to taste

Marica Piazzalunga @cook_110575959

I have a wonderful memory of this dish. It’s my grandmother’s recipe: when I visited her and saw potatoes boiling, I immediately knew it was gnocchi day and my eyes would light up. I also loved watching her make them.
The recipe was, of course, passed down to my dad, and some winter Friday evenings he would make them for my mom and me.
Now, I make them for my partner, always following the same recipe carefully. And ever since I started making these homemade gnocchi, I haven’t eaten store-bought ones again.
I prefer them with a butter and sage sauce because I think it lets you really taste the gnocchi, but of course, you can use any sauce you like.

Marica Piazzalunga @cook_110575959

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Ingredients

About 1 1/2 hours

Serves 2 (generous portions)

1 lb (2 oz)red potatoes or white potatoes for gnocchi (500 grams)
1 cupall-purpose flour (about 150 grams), plus more as needed for shaping
1medium egg
Salt, to taste
Fresh parsley, to taste
Fresh sage, to taste
Butter, to taste
Diced pancetta (optional, if desired), to taste
Black pepper (optional, if desired), to taste

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Steps

About 1 1/2 hours

1

Boil the whole potatoes with the skins on until fully cooked. Be sure to boil them in water, not steam them.
2

On a large wooden cutting board or another surface that isn’t perfectly smooth, make a mound of flour with a well in the center. Avoid smooth surfaces like marble, as they can make handling the dough difficult.
3

Once the potatoes are boiled, remove the skins and, while still hot, mash them with a potato masher into the well of flour. Add the egg, salt, and parsley.
4

Mix the ingredients together by hand until you have a smooth, ball-shaped dough with no residue left on the work surface. The dough shouldn’t be sticky: once you have a ball, stop kneading. This will only take a few minutes.
5

Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Take a small piece of dough and, using both hands, roll it into a rope about 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick. The length will depend on how much dough you use.
6

Using a knife or, ideally, a dough cutter, cut the rope into pieces about 1 1/4 inches (3 cm) long. Arrange the gnocchi spaced apart on a tray or plate dusted with flour. Continue until all the dough is used, adding a little more flour to the surface as needed.
7

Cooking and sauce: In a large, wide pan, bring salted water to a boil. Be sure to salt the water well. Meanwhile, in another pan, prepare the sauce: melt the butter with the sage and, if desired, the diced pancetta.
8

Once the water is boiling, add the gnocchi. As soon as they float to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in the pan with the sauce. I recommend cooking the gnocchi one portion at a time, so when I make them, I divide them onto separate trays by portion. Serve hot, and if you like, sprinkle each plate with black pepper.