So of all the “pastas”, “dumplings” and “easily bought so why make them yourself” items, gnocchi is my least favorite to make myself. I mean, why bother making gnocchi when you can just buy them? They are generally a lot of work — roast the potatoes, let them cool, but make sure that they don’t gummy so make sure to release the steam just at the right minute. Then make the dough, but depending on the potatoes, add more less of this or that. So, America’s Test Kitchen came up with a recipe to make gnocchi, but using potato flakes — still potatoes, right? So, that is how I made these earlier today. Was much easier than the traditional method. The recipe is more about showing off the gambit of potato things than the actual gnocchi in mushroom sauce.
Ingredients
for the gnocchi
2 cups plain instant mashed potato flakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons table salt, plus salt for cooking gnocchi
1 1/2 cups water
1 large egg
for the mushroom cream sauce
1/2 small onion diced
1 tablespoon butter
12 ounces mushrooms brown or white or shiitake, sliced
salt and ground pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic minced
3 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
Directions
Whisk potato flakes, flour, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk water and egg together in separate bowl. Add water mixture to potato flake mixture and stir with wooden spoon until fully combined and mixture forms dough ball. Let sit for 3 minutes for potato flakes and flour to hydrate. Turn out dough onto lightly floured counter and knead until dough has texture of Play-Doh and springs back halfway when poked with your finger, about 3 minutes. Lightly dust dough with flour and let rest on the counter for 5 minutes. Divide dough into 6 equal pieces. On a very lightly floured counter, roll 1 piece into 1/4-inch-thick rope. Lightly dust rope with flour. Using floured bench scraper, cut rope crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces; transfer gnocchi to lightly floured rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough pieces. Press gnocchi, cut side down, on tines of fork, then roll downward to create grooves. If dough sticks, dust your thumb and fork with flour. Return gnocchi to sheet.
Before boiling the gnocchi, as they don’t take very long to cook, make your sauce. Sauté onion in butter until softened, about 3-5 minutes. Add mushrooms, salt, and pepper. Cook until mushrooms have released juices. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the wine to de-glaze and loosen any bits off the pan and simmer a few minutes until the wine has almost evaporated. Add the chicken broth and cream. Simmer 5 minutes or until reduced by half. Let simmer 1 minute more before seasoning salt and pepper to taste. Put a lid on your skillet to keep warm while the gnocchi are cooking.
Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water. Add half of the gnocchi, then stir gently to keep from sticking. Simmer until just cooked through and gnocchi float to top, about 2 minutes. Using spider skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer gnocchi to skillet with sauce. Return water to boil and repeat with remaining gnocchi. Toss gnocchi and sauce together in skillet with the parsley and serve.
