Gnocchi di Patate, a pasta with Italian origin

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Preparing Gnocchi

The Gnocchi potato pasta is usually eaten as the first course (primo piatto) and complemented with melted butter, a sauce, sage or Pesto

Gnocchi, pronounced “Njocki” rather than “Gnotschi”, is the Italian variant of Nocken. In Italy, three main variants are distinguished: Gnocchi di Patate made from potatoes, Gnocchi di Polenta made from corn semolina and Gnocchi alla Romana (Roman wheat semolina dumplings).

I recently wrote about the Schupfnudeln, a German potato pasta which is very similar, except you use your fingers and not a fork to form the noodle. If you don’t have Semolina flour, you can use cornstarch, basically omit the Semolina flour and change the recipe to 1 cup white flour and 3 tbsp cornstarch, 1 egg and salt.

In addition, some pasta manufacturers also refer to their shell-shaped pasta as Gnocchi or Gnocchetti. The name Gnocchi simply means “dumplings”.

The recipe probably originated in the Middle East (though for historical reasons neither the potato nor the cornmeal variant) and was circulated by the Romans in Italy and the provinces.

Rainbow gnocchi

What ingredients can be used for the colors?

I have four color variants for you, so that with the white classic gnocchi you have a total of five different colors on your plate. The following ingredients were used for coloring: spinach (green), carrot (orange), beetroot (purple), tomato paste (red).

For making rainbow Gnocchi you can ultimately use any color-intensive ingredient. From saffron to herbs to Seppia ink, anything is actually possible. It is important that the consistency of the dough is not too sticky at the end, so that you can no longer form gnocchi from it. Of course you can then add a little more flour, but this can have a negative effect on the firmness of the gnocchi, so that they are too firm or rubbery after cooking, for example.

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