Potato Gnocchi

Two weeks back Fi & I came into possession of a giant sack of taters.  Generally speaking, we don't eat many potatoes, so our repertory of tried & true ways of cooking & eating them isn't exactly vast.  Beyond roast potatoes & baked potatoes, & maybe the occasional skillet of home-fries, neither of us has much experience.  Needless to say, it wasn't long before we found ourselves with a bucketload of on-the-verge-of-sprouting spuds & no way to deal with them.  Fi, ever the resourceful one in a time of crisis, suggested we try to make some gnocchi.

The gnocchi recipe (ours came from Martha Stewart's Cooking School) is pretty similar to pasta from scratch, the only real difference being the addition of riced potatoes to the flour & egg. After the dough's together, it's simply a matter of rolling it out & cutting the little bite-sized pillows of starchy goodness.

That process is pretty labor-intensive.  Each piece is individually shaped, & by the time I'd finished rolling the last one off the fork, I was definitely bored.  From start to finish, the dish (including a simple tomato sauce) took just shy of 2 hours to prepare.  Not exactly fast food, I know, but the gnocchi were really, really delicious & made for a light, but satisfying alternative to traditional pasta. I'd definitely recommend if you've got the time.