Easy gnocchi

Serves:

Ingredients

Gnocchi

• 1kg desiree potatoes, peeled and cut into thick slices
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 250g plain flour + a little extra

Tomato sauce

• 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tins (400g) diced tomatoes
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• sprig of fresh herbs

Method

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water, bring to the boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add 1 tsp salt and cook until tender then drain.

Make tomato sauce by processing carrot, onion and garlic in the blender until finely diced.  Add 1 tbsp olive oil in a wide pan or large frypan and fry the diced mix for 5 minutes or so over a medium low heat.

Add tomato paste and mix well. Add tinned tomatoes. Stir well. Add 1/2 cup water and simmer for 20 minutes or so over a low heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste and leave on a low simmer.

Mash boiled potatoes well with a masher until smooth.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes.  Mix in egg and flour with a wooden spoon until a sticky dough forms. Put on a pot of salted water to boil.

Flour work surface and roll lumps of gnocchi dough into smooth sausage shapes (about 2cm thick). Cut sausage shapes into 2cm pieces and drop into boiling water, 10 or so at a time. They are cooked when they float.

Carefully lift cooked gnocchi out of water with a slotted spoon and add to simmering tomato sauce. Continue rolling, cooking and dropping gnocchi into sauce until dough is all used up. Season with lots of salt and pepper and garnish with fresh herbs.

More pasta recipes:

• Chorizo pasta
• Bacon and bean fettucine
• Curtis Stone's fettucine bolognaise
• Ear pasta with peas and bacon
• Chicken lasagne
• Sage butter ravioli
• Light spaghetti carbonara
• Pork and fennel meatball pasta

Serving Suggestions

Note

• I always, always use desiree or pontiac potatoes, they work every time. Some other varieties might result in a gluey finish, so take my advice and stick to the winning spuds!
• Don't be tempted to put the cooked potatoes in the blender to get a smooth texture. It just doesn't work and you'll end up with a greyish, gluey mess!
• This recipe was created by Pip Lincolne for Kidspot, New Zealand's best recipe finder. You can follow Pip at Meet me at Mike's or on Pinterest and Twitter.