Homemade Gnocchi

I posted this on my blog a little while ago, but I've decided to consolidate my recipes here and if you haven't made this one, you've got to. It's fabulous--and really, homemade pasta tastes SO much better than the store-bought stuff. It's like baby's bottom goodness. YUM!

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs Russet Potatoes
1 egg
1 cup flour (white flour--the good stuff)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Start by microwaving 3 Russet Potatoes (mine were about 1 1/2 lbs) until they were soft inside. (you could also bake them, but I'm not patient enough for that). You do have to be careful microwaving potatoes though, they will explode all over. I poke holes in them and wrap them in a wet paper towel and they come out perfectly. Then scoop out all the insides and put them into a bowl (with a wet cloth on top to keep the moisture and heat in). Mash up the potatoes and then add a beaten egg and some salt and pepper and mix that all together. You could also add some rosemary at this point, or other seasoning that would be yummers (this is why I love cooking...you get to do whatever you want and make your own adaptations).

Then start adding the flour and kneed it at the same time. Keep adding flour if the dough is too sticky. This should take about 5 minutes. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Then break it into four sections and roll each section into a "snake" about 1/2 an inch thick. Cut them into gnocchi-sized pieces (that's pretty small) and then toss them into a pot of boiling, a little bit salted, water. Once the gnocchi is finished you will know because it will all float to the top of the water. Serve it immediately (yum) with your favorite sauce! I used a tomato-cream sauce (a recipe to come) and it was phenomenal! I also threw some roasted garlic into it and some parmesan cheese. Yummy!

Anyway...I highly recommend trying gnocchi. It was surprisingly easy to make and very yummy. Homemade pasta rocks :)