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HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT GNOCCHI WITH SPUD LITE

It can be hard to re-create that beautiful, pillowy, melt-in-your-mouth texture of Italian restaurant grade gnocchi at home. There is plenty of advice out there about how to create the perfect gnocchi. Plenty of chefs have put their tried and tested tips and tricks up online to get the perfect gnocchi, and we’ve sorted through quite a few of them! In this post we have put all the info to the test in a home kitchen and we’re bringing you what we think is the best way to make the perfect Spud Lite Gnocchi at home.

 

BOIL OR BAKE?

 

One of the major differences we found between gnocchi recipes was the big question: to boil, or to bake? Boiling the potatoes before mashing them is the more commonly found method, however we found many accounts that insist that the potatoes need to stay as dry as possible for the perfect dough. This means baking the potatoes to dry them out and keep them from absorbing too much moisture. Spud Lite has a slightly higher moisture content than some other types of potatoes, consequently we have found through chef advice and home trials that baking your Spud Lite is the best way to achieve the perfect gnocchi. If you do decide to boil your potatoes, you may find that you have to add more flour for the gnocchi dough to stick together. Read further for more information about how much flour to add to your Spud Lite Gnocchi.

 

SKIN ON OR OFF?

A common theme we also found was that the skin should remain on the potatoes until after they’re cooked, again this was to preserve the dryness within. This does pose a little problem in that peeling hot potatoes can burn your digits! We definitely recommend waiting for the potatoes to cool before attempting to remove the skin, whether you’ve decided to boil or bake them. Boiled potatoes are much easier to remove the skin from, but as we mentioned above, baking the potatoes tends to yield a better result. With baked potatoes we can only recommend that you try and keep as much of the potato flesh when removing the skins, and you should only lose a small amount in the peeling process.

 

MASHER, BLENDER, RICER, GRATER?

When taking your whole, cooked, peeled potatoes and getting them ready to make into dough, the aim is to aerate. This is the main factor in creating that fluffy, pillowy texture in your gnocchi. This means using a blender or food processor is a no when it comes to making gnocchi, as they will quite quickly make the potato too smooth and soupy. A ricer is said to be the best, however if you don’t have that piece of equipment in your kitchen and are not ready to invest, then using the fine side of a cheese grater works just as well, and a humble old potato masher can always be the fall-back option.

 

HOW MUCH FLOUR?

Another consensus we found was to use as little flour as possible. Too much flour makes gnocchi too tough and chewy. You want no more than just enough flour to make the dough stick together enough to make the gnocchi shape you need. Having said this, not using enough flour will mean that your lovely little gnocchi pillows will lose their shape and dissolve into mush when chucked in the pot of boiling water if you don’t use enough flour. To help the dough stick together through the boiling process, you can also add egg, the specifics of which are detailed in the next section.

 

TO EGG, OR NOT TO EGG?

Some chefs argued that egg is not needed, some say the whole egg, while others say just the yolk. We’ve found that, although the difference is only slight, it is best to only use whisked egg yolk, as this helps keep the dough together, but leaves behind the slight gumminess that the egg white can cause when the gnocchi is cooked.

 

THE NEED TO KNEAD

You’ve got all the right amounts of the right ingredients and your Spud Lite have been cooked just so to get that perfect texture… now you’ve got to add all those tasty elements together! First of all, make sure your grated or riced or mashed potatoes have cooled to room temperature before you mix in the other ingredients. This will stop the gluten in the flour from cooking too early and making the gnocchi chewy. Another tip: don’t knead the dough too much, only until the flour is fully incorporated. The dough will still be a little sticky, but rolling it out onto a floured surface will keep the pieces together. OK! Now that you’ve got all of the details, you can steam ahead with the ideal recipe to make the perfect Spud Lite gnocchi, which we have here:

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