Gluten Free Gnocchi With Bolognese Sauce

Remember my last failed gluten free gnocchi attempt? Well, they’ve been on my cooking to do list ever since, and they came out great this time. For some reason, people have the idea that gnocchi are hard to do. Not true. It’s just a long process. Don’t do this recipe on an evening when you’re pressed for time or already starving.

My suggestion: don’t do it like I did and try to get everything done in my tiny kitchen with two small burners (unless, of course, you have a normal sized kitchen with lots of space to move around). Do the sauce first, then the gnocchi.

Bolognese Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 kilo Ground beef (that’s about a pound)
1 large Yellow onion, diced
2 Tomatoes, diced
1 small carton Tomato sauce (if it were summer here, I’d have used all fresh tomatoes, but alas, we’re in late fall down here)
1 cup Red wine
1 t. Oregano
Olive oil
Sea salt and Pepper, to taste

Bolognese Sauce Preparation:

Dice onion and tomato. Saute onion in olive oil in a large sauce pan. Once translucent, add ground beef and cook until lightly browned. Add tomato sauce, tomatoes, and red wine. Season with oregano, sea salt, and pepper. Simmer, covered until the sauce has reached the desired consistency. Set aside and get ready for the gnocchi.

Gnocchi Ingredients:

1/2 kilo Potatoes (Russets are recommended; I just used what I had on hand)
1 cup Gluten free flour (I used a blend of corn and rice flour)
1/3 cup Potato starch
1/2 teaspoon Guar or Xanthan gum
2 Eggs, beaten
Sea salt

Gnocchi Preparation:

Cut potatoes in half or into quarters if large. Steam or boil the potatoes in salted water. Cook until potatoes are tender throughout.

As soon as they’re done, remove potatoes from the water and quickly peel them. The idea is to mash them while they’re still hot, so you’ve got to move as fast as possible without burning yourself.

Once peeled, mash lightly (don’t overdo it) in a bowl, then set aside to cool, about 10-15 minutes.

When they’ve cooled, add beaten eggs and sprinkle about half the flour on top. Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt. I started by mixing with a wooden spoon, then moved to kneading lightly with my hands. As you knead, you’ll notice that it’s really not sticking together and forming much of a dough, so now’s the time to sprinkle the potato starch and guar/xanthan gum on top and knead along with the mixture. Add the rest of the flour if needed to form a nice dough, sprinkling on top and then kneading in.

Once the dough is ready, take a handful of dough at a time and shape it into a long snake. Cut snakes into small pieces, about half an inch long. Roll them down the tines of a fork to create little grooves (these help the gnocchi grab onto the sauce), and place on a large plate. Keep at it until all of your dough has become gnocchified (did you like that word? I did).

When you’re ready to eat, place a large handful of gnocchi in salted boiling water. As the gnocchi rise to the top of the pot (it doesn’t take them long), remove them with a slotted spoon and place in bowls or on plates to serve. Repeat until all are cooked.

Top with bolognese sauce, and add grated cheese if you like.

Enjoy!