In the past, I have found making gnocchi to be a frustrating experience. I blame my previous difficulty on waterlogged potatoes… In this recipe, the potatoes are baked prior to ricing- no water involved- it worked perfectly! The gnocchi were tender, soft, and pillowy. This dish was inspired by alamain.net. The recipe for gnocchi was adapted from Food and Wine, contributed by Grace Parisi. I modified it by adding spinach, using whole wheat flour, and dressing it with pesto. The pesto recipe was adapted from alamain.net. I used Tuscan Kale instead of Rainbow Kale, Grana Padano instead of Parmesan, and walnuts instead of pine nuts. I doubled the gnocchi recipe to freeze a batch for later. Green, healthy, and delicious!
Yield: Serves 6 to 8
For the Gnocchi:
- 4 pounds russet potatoes (about 6) (enough to make 5 cups riced potatoes)
- 5 large egg yolks
- coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, or enough to achieve desired dough texture, plus more for dusting
- 6 oz baby spinach
- 1 T olive oil
- Kale-Walnut Pesto (recipe follows)
- Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese
- Preheat the oven to 400°. Pierce the potatoes all over with a fork. Alternatively, bake the potatoes in the oven for about 1 hour, until tender.
- Meanwhile, sauté the baby spinach in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool. Using the potato ricer, squeeze out excess moisture from the spinach. Finely chop the drained spinach in a food processor.
- Halve the potatoes. Scoop the flesh into a ricer and rice the potatoes.
Transfer 5 slightly packed cups of riced potatoes to a bowl. Stir in the egg yolks, drained and chopped spinach, and 2 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Add the 1 to 1 1/2 cups of flour; stir until a stiff dough forms. Knead the dough gently until smooth but slightly sticky, adding more flour if necessary.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust with flour. On a floured surface, cut the dough into 16 pieces, rolling each into a 3/4-inch-thick rope. Cut the ropes into 3/4-inch pieces.
- With your thumb, roll each piece against the tines of a fork to make ridges (I dusted the gnocchi, fork, and my thumb with flour before rolling); transfer to the baking sheet.
- In a large pot of simmering salted water, cook the gnocchi in batches until they rise to the surface, then simmer for 2 minutes longer. Repeat as necessary. (Do not overcrowd!)
- Toss the gnocchi with pesto to cover, sprinkle with the cheese, and serve.
MAKE AHEAD: The uncooked gnocchi pieces can be frozen on the prepared baking sheet, transferred to a resealable plastic bag, and frozen for up to 1 month. Boil without defrosting. (I reserved half of the batch.)
For the Kale-Walnut Pesto
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 1 cup Tuscan kale
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 4 T olive oil
- 1/4 cup grated Grana Padano
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until paste consistency is reached. Store in an airtight container.
One Year Ago:
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I’m so glad you were inspired by our recipe! Next time I make gnocchi, I’m going to try baking the potatoes since we definitely ran into the water problem as well. Thanks!
Thank you so much for the inspiration! We really enjoyed this dish!! 🙂
I’m totally impressed with these…and will definitely try them.. 🙂
The gnocchi recipe is the best I’ve tried. It was super helpful that an actual measurement of riced potatoes was included- it took out a lot of guesswork. Try it! 🙂
I love gnocchi!!!! greetings from Italy!
Thank you! I love it too 🙂
thank you!
Are whole wheat gnocchi common in Italy?
in Italy you make potato gnocchi with ricotta spinach …. etc! kiss!
Beautiful! Love the flecks of green throughout the gnocchi!
Thank you! It turned out to be a super-green dish 🙂 The pesto made it REALLY green 🙂
Gnocchi is so great when light and fluffy. The green is beautiful and sings of Spring.
Thank you! 🙂
This is one gorgeous post Josette! I have never tried Gnochhis before. Will surely look into this. They look so beautiful!
Thank you! Gnocchi can be tricky but is pretty simple with correct proportions and DRY potatoes!! This Food and Wine recipe was perfect for me 🙂
🙂
I have never made gnocchi. These look divine. I love kale and whole wheat anything. You really had me at pesto, though. 🙂
Thank you! I am starting my pesto season early this year 🙂
Love gnocchi and only made it once and I might add, not very successfully. I should give it another try now that I have this recipe. Thanks, Josette!
It took me a few years to try to make it again… after a lot of effort resulted in gummy gnocchi… This was a “staff favorite” Food and Wine recipe- perfect! 🙂
Thanks for the detailed recipe. I have never tried making gnocchi before but I am tempted to now! 🙂
Do it!! 🙂
Your gnocchi look so cute, Josette! And your pesto sounds so flavorful! I love the addition of kale!
Thank you! It is so easy (and tasty!) to throw just about anything into pesto 🙂
Wonderful! I specially like all the healthy modifications you’ve introduced, and I’m also a big fan of Grana Padano, I think it doesn’t have the reputation it deserves because is overshadowed by it famous cousin the Parmigiano, haha. I love gnocchi but never made them at home, I’ll give it a try with this recipe 🙂
Thank you! It is still a lot of potatoes… but seems much healthier with all of the greens!! 🙂
I don’t know what it is about wholesome food but it appeals to me so much, like it’s going to nourish my soul and this is one of those recipes ,thank you!
Thank you so much! I love love love comfort food as well 🙂
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This looks sooooo yummy!!