To transform a regular meal into something really special, we suggest Green Gnocchi recipe. It’s tasty, healthy and only takes around an hour to make. Because of its simplicity and fun(!), we often make Green Gnocchi on days of celebration.
Gnocchi are small little pieces of dough cooked in boiling water. They’re shaped like knuckles, or “nocche” in Italian, which is possibly where they get their name. Throughout Italy, they’re made from all different ingredients and have a long history here.
This specific recipe comes from an old, local Sicilian recipe book, and shares much in common with this long and vast tradition. This recipe combines potatoes, some flour, and an egg with something ‘green’. The original recipe calls for nettle, so we’ll use that, but spinach or any other green is a great substitute.
Here’s the recipe with ingredients and preparation instructions for you to make Green Gnocchi on your own. Or, join one of our cooking classes online or subscribe to our newsletter and let’s cook it together!
INGREDIENTS:
- 400 gr Potatoes (peeled)
- One egg
- 100 gr Nettle or Spinach
- 150 gr Flour
- Salt and Pepper
- 40 gr Butter
- 10 leaves of fresh Sage
- Pecorino cheese
PREPARATION
In a pot of boiling water, add the nettle or spinach. Cook for 30 seconds, then remove the greens from the water and let them drain. (Turn off the water, but keep it, because we’ll use it to cook the gnocchi later.)
In another pot, boil your potatoes. Let cool slightly, then peel, and then smash them in a big bowl.
Add the egg and flour to the bowl of mashed potatoes and kneed gently.
Transfer the dough onto a cutting board (with a touch of flour on its surface) and gently knee just a bit more. The dough should stay soft and sticky, and you can add a little extra flour if necessary. (Don’t overwork the dough by adding extra flour, or it will become dense and heavy.)
When the dough is smooth, divide it into a few pieces, and roll it into long logs or long cigars. Then, cut those logs up into little pieces about 3-4 cm each. (They will look like little dumplings or pillows.)
Do you remember the water we just used to boil our greens for 30 seconds? Well, it’s time to re-boil that water, and cook our little pillows of gnocchi 🙂 Put the gnocchi in the boiling water, and let cook for about 2 minutes.
In the meantime, add the butter, sage leaves, and a bit of black pepper to a frying pan, and cook until slightly fried, then stop the heat.
Usually, after 2 minutes all of the gnocchi will float to the top of the water. This means they’re ready. With a wooden spoon, gently check that none of the gnocchi are left on the bottom.
With a skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi into the frying pan with butter and sage. Heat it again for just enough time to toss it 2-3 times, and they’re ready to be plated.
an old recipe with a contemporary soul
Green Gnocchi are a way to make something tasty and healthy at the same time, spending around one hour to transform your regular meal into something special. This is a Gnocchi characteristic, used often on Celebration days.
This specific recipe came from an old local recipe book in Sicily but can be shared with a long and more spread tradition.
Actually, gnocchi are all of this, a way to cook, combining different ingredients, made in little pieces (knuckles shape, “nocche” in Italian where maybe the name came from) to cook them in boiling water.
To make Green Gnocchi we need something green, combining it with potatoes, some flour, and one egg. We list the nettle ( the original version ) and the spinach as a substitute but you can add any kind of greens.
Here is the recipe with ingredients and preparation but also can one of our cooking class online and subscribe to our newsletter
INGREDIENTS:
- 400 gr Potatoes
- one egg
- 100 gr Nettle or Spinach
- 150 gr Flour
- Salt and Pepper
- 40 gr Butter
- 10 leaves of fresh Sage
- Pecorino cheese
PREPARATION
In a pot with water, boiling adds the nettle for 30 sec. move it out and drain well
Store the water in the pot because we will use it to cook the gnocchi later.
After the potatoes are well boiled, peel them and smash them in a big bowl, add the egg and the flour and start to kneed gentle, the dough must stay soft and sticky, just a little bit of extra flour help to work well, better to move the dough out of the bawl to kneed directly on a cut board.
When our dough is smooth we start cutting a piece and work it just rolling making a sort of long cigar, after, cut that in little pieces 3-4 cm each. They will be similar to little pillows.
Do you remember the water we used to just boil for 30 sec our greens? Well, it’s time to reboil and cook our little pillow also called Gnocchi 🙂 in it.
In the meantime on a frying pan, we add our butter, our sage leaves, and a little bit of black pepper, cook until they slightly fry, and stop the heat.
Usually, after 2 min all the gnocchi are floating on top, very gentle with a wooden spoon check none is on the bottom and yes, it’s time to take it.
With a skimmer move directly into the frying pan with butter and sage, heat again just the time to toss 2-3 times and they are ready to be plated.