Instant Potatoes – the Key to Quick and Tasty Gnocchi
Welcome back to Sunday Sus maintenance, a weekly section of simple and delicious dishes for the laziest of everyday life. We’ve had thunder and flood warnings all week, which means it’s time for the perfect comfort food on a rainy day: gnocchi.
Gnocchi, if you haven’t seen one before, are boiled potato dumplings that are then made into a kind of dough, usually by adding flour and eggs. Although more traditionally served as an appetizer, they have become a staple or main dish on menus across the country in the past decade or so due to their incredible versatility. You can find them fresh, vacuum packed, and even frozen, but you can’t beat homemade ones. And homemade gnocchi are slicing or chopping large quantities of boiled potatoes. Instead, I’m going to turn to an ingredient that many of you may not even know where to find in the supermarket: instant mashed potatoes.
These often-maligned cereals are a surprisingly easy way to cook quickly because they’re already cooked, pressed, and ready to eat. Instead of worrying about tenderness and overcooking, all you have to do is moisturize them, and you’ve cut the cooking time by as much as 40 minutes. Speaking of preparation, let’s get down to business!
“Instant” dumplings
- 1 1/2 cups instant potato flakes
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 glass of milk
- ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
Add milk and butter to a small saucepan over low heat. When the butter has melted, add the potato flakes and stir. You should have a dry crumbly piece of mashed potatoes in your skillet. Let cool to room temperature.
Turn it out on a silicone baking mat or wherever you want to knead the dough. Yes, you need to knead here, but not much. Combine the potato and butter mixture with the egg and flour and knead until combined. If it’s sticky, dust it with a little flour.
Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and start rolling. We’re looking for something that looks like a rope about an inch thick.
Cut the ropes into inch-thick pieces and set them aside for now because you need to grab a fork.
A signature gnocchi look can be obtained with an inexpensive gnocchi device – a gnocchi board, but the tines of a regular dinner fork work equally well. Press down on one of the dumplings with your thumb and press it into the teeth. The gnocchi will flatten out a bit, so you’ll need to fold it back into a crescent shape. Here, just watch this.
Hooray! You have made the gnocchi. You can freeze them at this point – wax paper on a baking sheet in the freezer and then pack them in a bag – and they will last for about 6 months. Or you can quickly make a little sauce and enjoy their delicious glory. While the sage and butter options are a classic gnocchi pairing, I don’t know there is anything that compares to a good quick tomato sauce.
Nice, quick tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4-6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 28-ounce can of tomatoes (I love the fire-fried, but it works here!)
- ½ glass of water
- ¼ cups fresh basil, chopped
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 475 ℉ and move wire shelf to upper middle position. Fill and bring to a boil a medium saucepan and, working in small portions, add the dumplings to the boiling salted water. They will finish quickly, so don’t plan anywhere. After about 2 minutes you will see them floating on top of the pot, go and fish them out. Remove from attachment to dry. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a 12-inch ovenproof pan over medium heat until shimmery. Toast the gnocchi until golden brown on all sides and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and sauté the onions over medium heat until translucent. Place the garlic and red pepper flakes in the skillet and cook until the aroma appears, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and water and simmer until thick, 3-5 minutes.
When it looks like a sauce, add the basil and gnocchi to the skillet. Stir to coat the gnocchi and cook until tender – another 3-5 minutes. Remove the yummy potato dumplings from the heat and sprinkle with cheese. Place the skillet in the oven and cook until the cheese is melted, 5-8 minutes.
Any pasta or dumpling is essentially a sauce delivery system, and they are no exception. While checking out this recipe, I ate almost the entire first serving myself. I don’t think I need to explain why buttery fried potato dumplings are the perfect rainy day food.
Unless you’re a true connoisseur of dumplings, you won’t be able to tell the difference in taste and texture between them and their more complex, whole potato counterparts. And while their vacuum-sealed cousins are more comfortable, they lack the crescent shape and deeper ridges you’ve made here, helping to deliver more of that sticky cheese and delicious sauce. Gnocchi are versatile enough to handle anything you can throw at them, and if you want to get creative, there are even dessert variations . The only limitation here is what your imagination and creativity can bring to the plate.