Homemade Gnocchi- Gluten Free and Regular

Homemade gnocchi with dairy free cream sauce

I like noodles, but store bought gluten free noodles are expensive, and homemade noodles, while delicious and cheaper, can be a decent amount of work to roll out with a rolling pin and then come to shape. I use rice in place of noodles in many of my recipes, but sometimes I want to spice things up a drop.
Enter gnocchi.

Gnocchi are pretty much a cross between dumplings and noodles, that are typically eaten with pasta type sauces. There are all different types of gnocchi, from cheese gnocchi to wheat gnocchi to spinach gnocchi, but the basic gnocchi recipe is from potatoes and flour, which I converted to a gluten free recipe. I've also included a regular version of gnocchi for those of you who don't have an issue with gluten.

Yes, it is a bit more complicated to make gnocchi than to just pop a bag of noodles into a pot of boiling water, but these are still easier to make than homemade noodles, and the result is well worth it. These gnocchi are like little fluffy pillows of deliciousness, especially served with your favorite sauce.

Homemade Gnocchi Recipe- Gluten Free and Regular

Ingredients in Gluten Free Gnocchi:
~4 pounds of potatoes, or ~10 small potatoes
1 cup rice flour (white or brown)
1 1/3 cup potato starch
1/6 cup tapioca starch (or 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons)
3 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg

Ingredients in Regular Gnocchi:

~4 pounds of potatoes, or ~10 small potatoes
2- 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, wheat flour, or spelt flour
1 tsp salt
1 egg


Instructions:
1. Bake the potatoes in the oven until they're completely soft.

2. Peel the potatoes, making sure not to take too much flesh off with the skin.

3. Mash the potatoes very thoroughly, trying to get rid of all the chunks. A few small chunks are ok, but there can't be any large ones.

4. Add the egg, salt, flour(s), and xanthan gum if using, then mix well. You need the dough to be relatively non sticky, so add more and more flour until you get a good workable dough, but don't add too much flour or they'll be too heavy.

5. Roll the dough into snakes in the palms of your hands, a little bigger than the width of your thumb, then put the snakes on the counter. If the dough is sticking to your hand too much when you do this, add some extra flour (any of the types used in the recipe are ok) until you can handle the dough without it sticking to you.

6. With a knife, cut the snakes into one inch long pieces, then leave to dry on the counter for about 20-30 minutes.

7. Bring a pot of water to a boil, then add salt. When boiling, add gnocchi to the pot (try to drop each one in individually and not as a big clump). When the gnocchis floats up to the top of the pot, remove with a slotted spoon. (You probably will need to cook this quantity of gnocchi in 2 or 3 batches.)

8. Don't strain and rinse the gnocchi. Pour your sauce onto your gnocchi, and serve.

Enjoy!

Have you ever made or had gnocchi before? What type did you make/have? What type of sauce do you usually serve it with?

Do you think you'd try out this recipe?

Linking up to Simple Lives Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday