Traditional Italian gnocchi are very popular as a stand-alone dish and as a side dish. They are easy to prepare, but at the same time give a lot of creativity, allowing you to experiment and add different ingredients.
Gnocchi are small oval-shaped dumplings made with potatoes, flour, semolina, cottage cheese, ricotta, spinach, pumpkin, and even bread crumbs. Their history goes back to the times of the Roman Empire, and it is believed that gnocchi are the prototype of most varieties of dumplings common in Europe: Germany, France, Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia. In Rome, gnocchi was served on Thursdays before Friday fasting. And in Verona, one of the main characters of the carnival is dedicated to them - Pope Gnocco, the king of the holiday, who holds in his hand a gilded fork with potato dumplings. The descendants of Italians who once emigrated to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay certainly eat gnocchi on the 29th of every month: there is a belief that this serves as a guarantee of prosperity and well-being in the family. In different regions of Italy, this dish is prepared according to their own recipes with a variety of additives: cheese, herbs, vegetables, berries, etc. Gnocchi are also made in different colors, including tomato paste, carrot puree, parsley and basil. And the combination with traditional Italian sauces (pesto, trade wind, arrabbiata, etc.) creates unusual compositions, a palette of tastes and aromas. Potato gnocchi are considered classic. To prepare them, you need to boil 500 g of potatoes in a uniform or bake in the oven, peel and mash or rub through a sieve. Then the mass should be mixed with an egg, salt and, gradually adding 100 g of flour, knead a soft, but rather dense dough. At the end of kneading, you should get an elastic ball that does not stick to your hands. Next, you need to roll sausages with a diameter of 2 cm from the dough, cut into small pieces, give each an oblong shape and press down a little with a fork to make grooves. In Italy, gnocchi are molded using a special board with a grooved surface. Boil potato dumplings in boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes: they are ready as soon as they float up. Serve gnocchi preferably on warmed plates with sour cream, butter, grated cheese, sauce to taste.
