Homemade Quick Gnocchi
What do you get when you mix instant mashed potatoes, water and flour? Some of the best and easiest Homemade Quick Gnocchi that you will ever eat! Who ever thought, right!?
When I was younger, my mom’s Italian friend would come over and they would spend the entire day in the kitchen making Gnocchi. You know when you try a dish that’s sooo delicious it stays with you and even though years have passed you can still remember the taste and the comfort of that particular dish? That was this gnocchi. The soft, potatoe-y pillows, smothered in delicious, homemade sauce was well worth the wait. And a wait was guaranteed because it honestly took the better half of a hands-on afternoon to make!
Gnocchi is still one of my favorite foods. I mean who doesn’t like Gnocchi? It makes for such a hearty and cozy meal and tastes amazing with just about any sauce. But let’s get real, most days we just don’t have an entire afternoon to spend in the kitchen preparing pasta 😉 You can understand my excitement when I came across this recipe on Allrecipes that uses instant mashed potatoes as the base for Gnocchi. #lifechanged
I know, I know. Instant mashed potatoes!? Are you serious? The potatoes in a box that you lived off of in first year university because all you had was a kettle in your room!? At first, I was a total skeptic but then I came across a box of organic mashed potatoes in the little organic shop near my house without any strange preservatives and only a small handful of ingredients listed on the box (potatoes, rosemary, salt and pepper). Long story short, this Homemade Quick Gnocchi’s fate was sealed. And to my surprise, the taste and texture of this Homemade Quick Gnocchi made with instant mashed potaotes was super close to the one my mom and her friend used to make way back when – without the hours spent in the kitchen peeling, boiling and ricing potatoes!
Now that I’ve fallen in love with instant mashed potatoes (well at least for the organic taters without any added questionable ingredients), I’m excited to see what other recipes they can be used as a shortcut in! Are you a fan of using instant mashed potatoes or are they banned from your kitchen forever (like I thought)? Wishing you a wonderful week!
If you do try this Homemade Quick Gnocchi or any other recipes of mine, it makes my day hearing about it! 🙂 Insta or Tweet it to me (@cearaskitchen with hashtag #cearaskitchen) or Facebook it to me via the Ceara’s Kitchen Facebook Page! Have a wonderful week!
Homemade Quick Gnocchi
- Total Time: 32 mins
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
Delicious Homemade Quick Gnocchi that uses instant mashed potatoes and comes together much quicker and easier than traditional Gnocchi. Serve these soft, pasta pillows with your favorite tomato sauce!
Ingredients
- 1 cup organic potato flakes (note: also known as dehydrated potato or instant mashed potatoes)
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 cup white flour
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place potato flakes and boiling water into a medium-size bowl. Stir with a fork until combined. Cover and leave to cool in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
- Add ½ of the flour with a pinch of salt and pepper to the potato mixture. Using your hands, combine the instant mashed potatoes with the flour. Add in the rest of the flour until a fairly stiff (and non sticky) dough is formed. You might not need all the flour and you might need a little bit more depending on the brand of potato flakes you used (*I used 1 scant cup of flour). If your dough is too dry and scraggly add a couple of drops of water. Lightly knead the dough for about a minute into a ball. Cover and leave the dough ball to rest for 15 minutes.
- Boil a large pot of salted water while preparing the gnocchi. Divide the dough into two. With the palms of your hands, shape each half of the dough into a long thin roll (about the thickness of your finger). With a knife, cut the gnocchi into bite size pieces (1.5 cm/ ½ inch wide). See photo of gnocchi for reference.
- Once the water has come to a rapid boil, place a few of the gnocchi into the boiling water. After about 60 – 90 seconds the gnocchi will rise to the top of the pot, remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon until all the gnocchi are cooked. Serve warm with your favorite pasta sauce.
Notes
Gnocchi can be easily, doubled, tripled etc. based on how many people you are serving!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 2 mins
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Italian
