Homemade Whole Wheat Gnocchi
Makes 4 to 6 Servings, Preparation Time 60 minutes
Homemade Whole Wheat Gnocchi
Making your own homemade whole wheat gnocchi is more of a learned art than it is the case of following a set formula. Depending on the type of potato used, the amount of moisture in the potato, and other variables, you learn from practise and experience the art of making whole wheat gnocchi. For this reason, you may want to half or quarter our recipe for first attempt. At least make it once or twice before you include into the menu of your next dinner party. If you are counting on your whole wheat gnocchi to be just right, we recommend you make it ahead of time. You can store them in the refrigerator overnight, or you can freeze them weeks or up to two months in advance. Freeze the whole wheat gnocch in small batches, thaw as you need. Cook frozen gnocchi in boiling water.
- 3 to 6 potatoes of medium to large size. Russet, Idaho, and Yukon Gold are the most popular varieties to use.
- Approximately 1 to 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour, reserve a small amount of flour for dusting the dough
- ¼ cup ground flax seed
- Two or three shakes of a salt
- Bring a large pot of salted water in which to boil and cook your gnocchi
- Wash the potatoes with skins. After cooking and cooling, remove the skins.
- Boil, bake, or microwave the potatoes until they are tender. Using a thin pointed knife test to ensure potatoes are cooked. The knife will pass easily through the potatoes when they are tender. Once tender, stop the cooking process by draining excess water.3.
- Place hotpotatoes in a bowl or on a cutting board and allow them to cool. Once they have cooled to the point that they are still warm, but cool enough to safely handle, we may go ahead and make our whole wheat gnocchi noodles. Do not let the potatoes get cold.
- Skin the potatoes or scoop out the insides of the potatoes into a large mixing bowl. Discard the skins or save to make some other dish.
- Mash the potatoes well. You can use a food processor. A ricer is the best tool to use, but even a potato masher will do. Mash the potatoes well untilt they are uniformly smooth.
- Once mashed, blend in the ground flax seed and a little dash of salt.
- In intervals, add in and blend small amounts of flour with your hands until you develop a firm but soft ball of dough. Pinch off small pieces of the dough and roll into a small ball. It should not crumble, nor should the little ball be sticky. If you wish to test the dough, drop the little test ball into a pot of boiling water. If it rises to the top without falling apart it is good and ready to taste. Our goal is to create a dough using the least amount of flour. If your test ball has lost some its shape or if looks fuzzy or feels a little fuzzy in your mouth then you need to add more flour.
- When you believe the dough is ready, cut the dough ball into smaller pieces and roll out to make small long rolls of dough that resemble a rope. Dust with flour freely to make the dough easier to work with. With a spoon or pastry knife scissors, cut small pieces from the rolls of dough to make each little "pillow" noodle uniformly sized. Make each one no shorter than half an inch and no bigger than an inch. Whatever size you use, use it consistently to form each piece. You may use a fork or a gnocchi board to shape the gnocchi, but this is not necessary. This will create ridges and dimples on each gnocchi piece which some people like because this variation holds sauce.
- Place each gnocchi noodle to store on a tray lined with parchment paper or wax paper. Do not let the noodles touch, or they may stick together. Separate layers of noodle with more parchment or wax paper.
- Boil a pot of water with a little salt, place small batches of the noodles into a pot of gently boiling water. After about 3 minutes the gnocchi will rise to the top. The noodles float to the surface when they are ready to eat. Use a strainer to remove each batch of cooked noodles. cooking in small batches takes a little more time but is easier to identify the cooked noodles.
- Strain and serve your pasta with your favourite sauce, pesto or soup.
Get the Kids, Fairies, and Elves Involved
Do you want to teach child good nutrients and encourage good eating patterns? There is nothing better than hands-on-practise! Once our Whole Wheat Gnocchi dough was ready for forming the noodles, we asked our grandchild to help. She helped roll out the dough to create the "pasta ropes" that we needed to create a number of noodles.
Children who help make healthy food, are encouraged to adopt healthy eating patterns.
Made your own Whole Wheat Gnocchi, try our Marinara Extra Sauce
Mushroom Pesto
