Gnocchi with Tomato Sauce

Course Main Course

Ingredients

  • 1 kg potatoes
  • 300 g flour
  • 1 egg
  • salt for water

Tomato Sauce:

  • 2 large cans imported Italian tomatoes – whole & peeled
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 small onion (chopped up well in your Eco Chop)
  • 2-3 fresh basil leaves
  • Fresh or dried Oregano to taste
  • 1 carrot (if needed to cut the acid of the tomatoes)

Instructions

  • To prepare the potato gnocchi, start by cooking your potatoes.  I use my large round mold with the octagonal bonMat in the microwave.  I peel the potatoes and place in Large  Round Mold and then cover with the Octagonal bonMat.  I cook in microwave for 12 minutes or until potatoes are soft. 
  •  Let potatoes cool and then put them on the Roul’pat to smash.  I used a pastry cutter to start and then my hands to finish smashing the potatoes.  Add the flour to the potatoes and mash with your hands.  Add the egg in the center and continue blending with your hands until smooth.  Add little bits of water as needed to pull the dough together.  
  • Knead everything with your hands until you get a soft but compact ball of dough. Remember that if you work too hard, the gnocchi will become hard during cooking, so just mix the necessary dough. Take a part of the dough and spread it with the tips of the fingers to obtain a long loaf of dough.  The dough is very sticky so you will need some flour but only a very little bit of flour when you are using the roul’pat.  In the meantime, cover the remaining dough with an Octagonal bon Mat to prevent it from drying out.
  • Then cut the loaves into small pieces and pressing lightly with your thumb, drag them on the gnocchi line to obtain the classic shape. If you do not have the gnocchi line, you can use a fork and drag it on the prongs; also in this case, use flour to avoid sticking. As you prepare the potato gnocchi, arrange them on a bon Mat or Roul’pat, well spaced from each other.  If you intend to cook them you can pour them in boiling salted water; as soon as they come to the surface the gnocchi are considered cooked and then ready to be drained and seasoned.
  • Potato gnocchi can still be kept raw by leaving them on the Roul’pat for a couple of hours at most, in this case cooking will be slightly longer because they will be dried in the air. You can also freeze the gnocchi, in this case put the Roul’pat in the freezer and after about 20 minutes put the potato gnocchi in a bag or be Save container, and keep on doing this until you have frozen them all. 
  • To cook them it will be enough to throw them in boiling salted water without defrosting them first.  Remember they are ready once they float.

For the Tomato Sauce:

  • Pour a generous amount of olive oil into your stainless steel pan.  Enough to cover the bottom by about ¼ of an inch.  Heat oil and then add well diced onions.  Cook onions until soft.  While onions are cooking, use your immersion blender to puree the tomatoes in the can.
  • Add tomatoes to the oil and onions.  Cook over low heat until the oil has incorporated into the tomato sauce (before this happens you will notice the oil sitting more on top of the tomatoes).  Once oil is combined well with tomatoes, taste and if the tomatoes are very acidic then add one whole carrot to the sauce.  The carrot will be removed after about 10 minutes as it is just to add sweetness to the sauce.  Be sure to remove the carrot or the sauce will be too sweet.  At this time you can also add the fresh basil and oregano to taste.  Let cook for the 10 minutes with the carrot, basil and oregano and then taste again.  Adjust for flavor or if it’s ready then turn off the heat so you don’t overcook your sauce.