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Are you looking for an easy and delicious recipe for homemade gnocchi? Great, I got you covered! My grandmother used to make the best homemade gnocchi with tomato sauce in the world. They were delicate and flavorful and she always served them with an absolutely delicious tomato sauce that she prepared with tomatoes and basil freshly picked from the garden.
This is my version of her recipe for homemade gnocchi. The gnocchi are tender on the inside yet are slightly firm when you bite into them. They are served with a delicious tomato-basil sauce made with ripe datterino tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil and plant based sour cream. The result is an absolutely delicious dish that will delight everyone!
What's more, the beauty of this recipe is that it only requires 7 ingredients and about 45 minutes of active cooking! So if you're looking for a quick and easy dish to prepare, you've come to the right place!
Before you jump into the kitchen to make this gnocchi with tomato sauce, I recommend you read the blog post carefully. The recipe is simple, but there are a few important steps you need to follow carefully.
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To make this delicious vegan gnocchi with tomato sauce you only need the following 7 ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- Datterino tomatoes
- floury or all-purpose potatoes
- plant-based sour cream (e.g. Beleaf)
- olive oil
- salt
- basil
Datterino Tomatoes
If you want to make an absolutely delicious tomato sauce, I recommend using Datterino tomatoes.
They are slightly sweet, extremely tasty and make a sauce that is world class. If you can't find them, you can also use cherry tomatoes. The most important thing is that you use very ripe, flavorful tomatoes.
Sour cream
Nowadays it is easy to find plant based sour cream in any supermarket (at least in Switzerland). I always use the one from the brand Beleaf because it tastes very good and is available practically everywhere.
If you can't find vegan sour cream, you can either use unsweetened soy yogurt or add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 200 ml of vegetable cream. The result will be similar and just as delicious.
Which potatoes to use for gnocchi?
When choosing potatoes for gnocchi, the most important thing is to use old potatoes.
They are rich in starch and contain less water, therefore they are perfect for this recipe. New potatoes are not recommended, because they are watery and give moisture to the flour.
Cooking potatoes properly
Once we have selected the right potatoes, we can cook them. One of the most popular methods is to cook them whole and unpeeled in boiling water. An equally good alternative is to bake the potatoes in the oven at about 150 °C (300 °F) until tender.
What also works very well is to steam them, in which case the potatoes must always be cooked whole and unpeeled.
On the other hand, it is not advisable to cook already peeled or diced potatoes, because they absorb more water than they should and remain more moist.
The potatoes are too moist, what should I do?
If the potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork, they are cooked. If water comes out when you mash them with a potato masher, here's the solution: let them dry in the oven at 100 °C (212 °F) for 10 minutes.
Once you've done all these steps correctly, you're ready to make the dough. Add flour to the mashed potatoes and knead the dough as fast as possible so that the gnocchi don't get too sticky or rubbery when cooking.
How to knead gnocchi dough properly
Mashed potatoes and flour must be mixed and formed into a dough very quickly after mashing. But watch out, don't overmix the dough or the potatoes will give off water and make the dough sticky.
Always remember that the exact ratio for gnocchi with a perfect consistency that melts in your mouth is 1 kg of potatoes to 250/300 g of flour.
So if you over-knead the dough and have to add more flour to fix it, you might end up with gummy gnocchi.
How to form gnocchi
Once you have formed a compact dough, dust a work surface with a little flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a rectangle about 2 cm thick (see picture below), if necessary, also flour the rolling pin.
Cut the dough into strips about 2 cm wide and roll them up with your hands. Then cut the rolls with a sharp knife into pieces about 2 cm long. And voilá the gnocchi are ready!
Drying gnocchi
Let the gnocchi rest on a clean dish towel for about 30 minutes. Thanks to the resting time, they dry out slightly on the surface and keep their shape during and after cooking. This step is necessary because there are no eggs in the dough.
I do not advise cooking the gnocchi immediately after shaping. This could cause the gnocchi to stick together!
On the contrary, if you leave them to dry for too long, an excessive crust may form, the inside will not cook properly and the dough will become dark and hard.
How to cook gnocchi
Cooking fresh gnocchi is very simple. Put them in boiling salted water and cook them until they come to the surface. To make sure they are cooked inside, I always recommend you try a gnocco before draining them.
How to freeze gnocchi
If you have made extra portions of gnocchi and want to freeze them, you can easily do so after they have dried.
The best way to freeze them is to place them on a baking sheet or plate lined with parchment paper and place the gnocchi on it so that they don't touch each other. Then freeze them. Once frozen, you can put them in a freezer bag.
How to cook frozen gnocchi
If you want to cook the frozen gnocchi, just put them in boiling salted water while they are still frozen.
Then cook them for 3-4 minutes or until they come to the surface. To make sure they are cooked inside, I always recommend you try a gnocco before draining them.
How to make the tomato sauce
While the gnocchi are drying, we can prepare the tomato sauce. To do so, put the tomatoes together with the basil, a pinch of salt and a generous dash of olive oil in a cast iron pan or casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes at 200 °C (350 °F).
Once the tomatoes are cooked, we put them in a blender, add the sour cream and some black pepper and puree everything until we get a creamy sauce. If the sauce is too sour, we can add half a teaspoon of sugar.
Then we can add the gnocchi and serve it immediately nice and hot.
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if you try this recipe for homemade gnocchi...
If you tried this recipe for homemade gnocchi with tomato sauce let me know! Leave a comment, rate it and don't forget to tag a photo with #carlocao or #vegaliciously on Instagram & Tiktok. Cheers, friends!
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Ingredients
- 1 kg floury or all-purpose potatoes ((35 oz))
- 300 g all-purpose flour plus more for dusting ((10½ oz))
- 1 tsp salt
- 400 g datterino tomatoes ((14 oz))
- 1 handful basil
- 3-4 tbsp olive oil
- 150 g vegan sour cream ((5⅓ oz))
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes thoroughly and place them in a pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil the potatoes for about 20 minutes until soft.
- Let the potatoes cool down a little. Then peel and mash them with a potato masher.
- Add salt and flour a little at a time and quickly knead into a smooth dough.
- Dust a clean working surface with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a rectangle about 2cm (¾ inch) thick, dusting the rolling pin if necessary.
- Then cut 2cm (¾ inch) wide strips and roll up with your hands.
- Cut 2 cm (¾ inch) long pieces with a knife.
- Place gnocchi on a clean kitchen towel and let dry for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare the sauce. Put the tomatoes together with the basil, a pinch of salt and a generous dash of olive oil in a cast iron pan or casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes at 200 °C (392 °F). Then put cooked tomatoes and sour cream in a blender, puree with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Cook gnocchi in boiling salted water until they float to the surface, then drain and serve immediately with the sauce.
Marit says
This was delicious😋 I have never made gnocchi before so the extra instructions came in handy 🙏
It would have been helpful with a little heads up on when to turn on the oven for the sauce, since my oven is a bit slow to heat up 🍅
This is a new favourite, thank you 🥰