Hello and welcome to The Vegan Corner.
When it comes to our preferred Italian foods,
the following is definitely one of the recipes that comes to mind,
which is the one to prepare gnocchi from scratch.
Unfortunately, the gnocchi you find in the supermarkets almost invariably contain eggs,
which is odd as they are not only useless for this particular preparation,
but they are also not a component of the traditional recipe.
So if you want to make Gnocchi the proper way then keep watching!
This pasta substitute is prepared by using only two simple ingredients,
which you will find listed in the description below the video.
The first thing to do to prepare the gnocchi is to bring a pot of water to the boil,
tip in the potatoes and cook them for 40 minutes.
To test if the potatoes are cooked, pierce them with a toothpick.
You know they are ready if the pick easily passes through the centre of the potatoes.
Boiling the potatoes whole will prevent them from falling apart whilst cooking,
so please don’t be tempted by peeling and cutting the potatoes
to speed up the process, as it won’t work and you will end up with potato soup.
A bad potato soup.
And I’m quite sure that nobody likes a bad potato soup, right?
The perfect potato varieties for gnocchi are Maris Piper, King Edward and Russet.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and peel them whilst they are still hot.
Unfortunately to achieve better gnocchi you must work with hot potatoes,
so don’t wait too long before peeling them after the cooking process.
Once peeled, dice the potatoes and press
them through a potato ricer over a working
surface.
If you are wondering why this piece of equipment is called potato ricer…
we have no idea!
Now sift all the flour onto the mashed potatoes, or should I say riced potatoes?
Mmhh…
Now take a dough scraper, or a knife and start cutting through the flour
to mix the ingredients.
This process will make the task of kneading a little easier.
You could of course use gluten-free flour for this recipe,
but I wouldn’t suggest doing it on your first attempt,
as this preparation might seem easy,
but it still take some practice to get it spot on.
Do you want to know a funny thing about this recipe?
The recommended amount of salt for this amount of ingredients
is 15 grams,
which is about ½ ounce in the US.
I mean, 15 grams of salt? Seriously, that’s crazy right?
I can assure you that having no salt at all , makes them taste even better.
Once finished, thoroughly mix the ingredients by hand
until a rough dough is obtained.
At the end of this process, the dough should be firm to the eye
but soft to the touch.
I know that this sounds a little romantic,
but I simply couldn’t find a better way to describe the consistency of the dough!
Sorry!
The gnocchi dough should always be a little sticky.
If it is too sticky, a little more flour can be added.
Roll the dough into a cylindrical shape and cover it with a kitchen towel.
Leave the mixture to rest for\ 10 minutes before moving on.
Once the time has elapsed,
remove the towel from the dough and dust some flour onto the working surface.
Cut a part of the dough with a knife or pastry scraper
and roll it into a sausage shape,
a vegan sausage of course!
Now, cut the Italian vegan potato sausage into pieces of the desired dimension.
Each of these pieces will become a gnocco,
which is the Italian singular for “gnocchi”.
At this point, there are two ways to give the gnocchi their traditional shape:
with a riga gnocchi, also known as gnocchi board, or with a fork.
To make the gnocchi with the board,
gently press and roll the piece of dough onto the wood to achieve the classic shape.
The hands you are seeing working with the gnocchi dough,
are the ones of the most experienced master baker
I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with,
the wonderful Miriam.
When she is preparing breads, pizzas and other baked goodies
the most amazing aroma spreads all over the house,
making it impossible to resist the urge to try some while she's not looking.
To proceed with the other method,
dust a fork with some flour and gently press and roll each gnocco
against the fork’s prongs.
To cook the gnocchi, simply plunge them into boiling water
and keep them in until they rise to the surface.
Nothing too fancy as you can see!
There you have it,
your first batch of homemade,
perfectly shaped,
low cost and super healthy gnocchi
ready to be cooked and enjoyed.
Without eggs!
Don’t be afraid of this preparation at all,
as it really is straightforward.
I remember making this the first time when I was 9 years old,
and despite the young and,
they turned out to be quite good.
In case you need some extra tips about this dish,
you will find them in the description box.
Please give this recipe a try
and don’t forget to hit the “like” button
if you liked the video.
Thanks for watching and to the next recipe.