Gnocchi (?)

The History: In Italian, "Gnocchi" means "lumps". (Indeed, this proved to be true.) They have been around since the Romans, for over 2000 years. Fun fact: one type of gnocchi is called "strangolapreti" which means "choke the priest". Unfortunately, wikipedia did not elaborate on how this name came about, so we are left in suspense. Moving along...

The Process: Like mole sauce, gnocchi seems to have a plethora of recipes and techniques- I imagine each Italian family has strong thoughts regarding the 'best' way to make gnocchi. So, like the mole, I took hints/tips from a few different recipes and dove in.
Nathan and I have been planning to make gnocchi for months, and bought a potato ricer several months ago. This is a seemingly essential tool- it looks like a giant garlic press and made the preparation of the potatoes infinitely easier than mashing them.
I will admit- my usual "cowgirl in the kitchen" tactics didn't work so well this time- gnocchi were messy and a lot of work, and I really had no clue what I was doing. This recipe takes a lot of counter space (for spreading the riced potatoes) and dirties a lot of baking sheets. However, like the pierogi, you could spend an hour making a few gallons of gnocchi and have ample supply for months of gnocchi eating--possibly making the preparation/messy kitchen worth it.

The Recipe:
I'm going to reference the Epicurious.com recipe for this one. That said, no one recipe is going to explain the whole process well, so I recommend doing a few google searches and exploring the gnocchi-underworld of the internet before starting.

3 Idaho potatoes (whole, with skins, scrubbed)
1 whole egg
1 t. nutmeg (bonus points if freshly ground!)
salt/pepper
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
somewhere around 2 cups of flour

Boil the potatoes whole until tender (about 30 minutes). Once you can touch them without severe finger pain, peel the skins off (should be easy to peel). Lay out 2-4 baking sheets, and press the potatoes through the ricer, creating thin layers on the baking sheets. (This part is fun- it's like those Playdoh kid's toys!) Once the potatoes are cool, place them in a large bowl, then add about a cup of the flour, the (beaten) egg, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and cheese. Mix (it's easiest to just use your hands) adding more flour as needed, until the dough is almost like bread dough. (The 'almost' is critical- don't make this a floury glop!) Try not to overmix.

(Wash the potato goo off your hands.) Then, taking handfuls of the dough, roll it out on a floured surface into snakes that are about 3/4 inch thick. Cut the rope into 1 inch bits. Then (this is the hard part) using the tines of a fork, create ridges on the gnocchi blobs, then place on a floured pan. I wish I could go more in depth on this ridge-creating nonsense, but to be honest, I couldn't figure it out. Nathan and I made the gnocchi together, and with his greater patience levels, he was able to create prettier gnocchi than I was. I got antsy and started haphazardly squashing the gnocchi with my fork. Whatever works for you. (On the picture below, can you tell which gnocchi are mine, and which are Nathans?)

If you're going to freeze them, freeze them on the pan, then, once frozen, put them in a plastic bag (like the Pierogi), or if you're going to cook them, set aside.

To cook: The most critical thing? DON'T OVERBOIL. We made 3 batches of gnocchi to see if they were turning out and the first few were like mushy wet blobs of mashed potato. Frying them in butter only slightly helped. After you place about a dozen or so gnocchi in the boiling water, remove them a few seconds after they float. It's probably best to plan on lightly frying/sauteing them in butter/olive oil so they regain some shape. I fried ours with a little tomato sauce and topped them with parmesan, then yesterday made another batch for lunch, and (after over boiling them) added spinach and butter, which was yummy.
 
The Results:
I don't know. They were nothing to brag about- the process was fun, though we actually made double the recipe so it involved a lot of dough shaping. I think the main problem is twofold:

1. I like firm gnocchi, like the kind from Romeo and Cesares, my favorite Italian grocery shop. My homemade gnocchi were fluffy and pillowy, which is apparently what gnocchi are supposed to be like, but I was expecting a firmer texture.
2. I can buy said gnocchi from R&C for fairly cheap, my kitchen won't be covered in riced potato and flour, we won't have an hour's worth of dishes to wash, and the gnocchi from R&C have a identical, prettily ridged appearance.

Will we make them again? Yes. In smaller batches, and possibly with sweet potato. (Nothing beats sweet potato gnocchi with brown butter and sage!)