This recipe was featured on Podcast Episode 4: How Tuscan Women Cook.
Tuscan Women Cook is a sponsor of the Dream of Italy: Tuscan Sun Special, now airing on PBS. In this episode, Kathy visits the hill town of Cortona in Tuscany, meeting a woman who might be just as passionate about Italy as she is – Under the Tuscan Sun author Frances Mayes.
This podcast is all about Tuscan Women Cook, a hands-on cooking school located in the small Tuscan village of Montefollonico, where visitors from all over the world learn from the masters- Tuscan grandmothers or nonni. We learned the secrets of how Tuscan Women Cook from nonna Laurella Terrosi. This is her recipe for gnocchi:
Serves about 15 people.
Ingredients:
1+ pounds potatoes (not new potatoes; Lorella prefers yellow potatoes)
1 tablespoon eggs
1-1/2 cups flour
Pinch of salt
Instructions:
Cook potatoes in boiling water under tender. Peel and put through a potato ricer or use a passo tutto (food mill). The potatoes should be very dry. The drier the potato the less flour it will absorb and the lighter the gnocchi will be.
Place potatoes, egg, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Slowly add the flour and turn the entire mixture onto a pasta board. Knead gently to combine until desired texture. Cover with damp towel for 30 minutes to rest.
Cut sections of pasta and roll out into “cigar” type shapes. Cut into small pieces.
Cook in boiling water the gnocchi float. Just a couple of minutes. Don’t overcook.