Potato Gnocchi Gluten Free
Potato Gnocchi have been at the forefront of my food thoughts for a month or more now. Could they be made gluten free without compromise to flavour or texture? I recently discovered a post on a “Italy on my mind” which substantiated my thoughts about potato flour being a viable substitute for wheat flour in potato gnocchi. I also found that an egg is necessary as a replacement for the strength that gluten provides in the traditional formula.
The variety of potato you choose, the cooking of the potatoes and the way you handle the dough, however, all play an important part in the success of gnocchi, gluten free or not. The potatoes you choose for gnocchi should be neither too waxy or too floury. In Australia, pink skinned Desiree potatoes are ideal. The potatoes should be steamed whole, skin on, until quite soft. Many cooks recommend a potato ricer to mash the spuds once peeled, but I find diligence with a fork just as effective. It’s important that when mixing the flour and egg into the dough that you handle it lightly and stop kneading as soon as the ingredients are combined. Over handling will result in rubbery gnocchi. The amount of flour needed largely depends on the potatoes. Begin my adding the smallest quantity stipulated in the recipe and if the dough is too sticky to handle add a little extra at a time until it’s manageable.
Once you have a soft but pliable dough, keep it under plastic wrap while you roll sections into ropes and cut the gnocchi. I didn’t bother with the purists indent of the fork tines, but dropped my gnocchi straight into boiling salted water in small batches and boiled them for 3 minutes, timed from the minute the gnocchi floated to the surface. Once you’ve removed them from the water with a slotted spoon, they should be sauced immediately and served without delay.
Gnocchi marries well with burnt butter and sage, well seasoned passata, basil pesto or pesto Trapanese.
I was thrilled with my gluten free potato gnocchi. It was with some trepidation that I dropped them into the boiling water and was elated when they didn’t disintegrate. They were firm but not tough, bouncy but not rubbery. Potato gnocchi will once again appear regularly on our dinner table.
750g potatoes, even sizes
3/4 – 1 cup potato flour
1 lge egg
I tsp sea salt
Scrub the potatoes, then steam them whole until soft. Test the potatoes with the tip of a sharp paring knife to test for doneness.
Peel, mash, the potatoes, then spread the mash on a tray to cool slightly.
Sift the flour into a larg bowl, put the mash on top and make a well in the surface. Lightly beat the egg with a fork, pour the egg into the well, then using a pastry scraper or your hands, mix the ingredients into a soft but pliable dough. Add more flour if necessary.
Roll portions of the dough into thick ropes, about cm in diameter, then cut into bite sized sections. Set the gnocchi aside on a well floured board. Cover the gnocchi wrap to prevent then drying out.
Boil water a large pot of water. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Drop about 1/4 of the gnocchi into the water, return to a rolling boil. As soon as it floats, set the timer for 3 minutes. Remove the gnocchi from pot with a slotted spoon. Continue cooking batches of gnocchi until complete. Sauce and serve.
Serves 4
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34 comments on “Potato Gnocchi Gluten Free”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
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Wonder where I’d find potato flour in the US?? I love gnocchi.
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Hard for me to advise. I’m in Australia where it is available in the supermarket, whole food stores, and markets selling asian and/or middle European grocery lines.
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I like all things potato, gnocchi and I are just getting to know each other.
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Gnocchi are my favourite pasta probably because I like all thing potato too.
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Making these for my sister in Law she cant have gluten or yolk of eggs so i replaced with an egg white beater hopefully they wont disinigrate 😀
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Finger crossed 🙏 Please let me know how they perform, I’m often asked questions about recipes and it’s good to be able to provide an informed answer.
Good luck….
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I just love gnocchi. I taught my girls, or shall I say I had them make them once, and they had a blast. Your little gnocchi look perfect and light Sandra!
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Thanks Lidia!
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What a wonderful recipe! I’m going to share with a few glutten-free people in my life who will be delighted to get this recipe.
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Thanks Azita!
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Great that you made your own gnocchi! You are right not to bother with the fork — it will hold the sauce regardless.
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Everything homemade is betterment, no question!😀
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Thank you so much for this. I’ve a couple family members that suffer gluten issues and I’m forever trying to find them GF versions of our family recipes. At one time, I was going to make the dishes for them but they’ve grown too sensitive to GF. Now there’s no way I can use any of my equipment to prepare things for them.GF gnocchi will be very well received, Thanks again.
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John, use this as a starting point for sure. It needs the egg no question, but next time I’m going to try 1/2 potato flour, 1/2 brown rice flour which has more of a semolina texture and may improve the texture. Mouthfeel is always the biggest issue when converting recipes to GF.
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Look at how cute!!!!!
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Thanks!
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Nice and comfort pasta!
nothing better than start up a day with this gnocci….
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Thanks, yes pasta is very comforting!
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These look DELICIOUS, and the perfect base for your beautiful pesto. I’ve been experimenting with gluten-free gnocchi too lately, trying to perfect it with rice flour. Potato flour is a great idea, and makes sense!
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Thanks, it was the perfect base for the pesto! I tried a few other flours before I settled on potato flour. I was very happy with the end result!
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An informative description and great photos. My introduction to gnocchi was a cooking class in Cortona Italy. Thanks for memory of it and for sharing your success. Looks so good. Sue
Womenlivinglifeafter50.com
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Thanks Sue. Altering a tried and true formula requires many try outs, but ultimately the method and pitfalls are the same!
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Potato flour! I use it to thicken gravy, but this is a whole new use for the ingredient. Love gnocchi and love this recipe!
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I’m a little bit wary about kneading but your potato gnocchi seems easy to do. I’d like to try them once I find potato flour in the supermarket!
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Yum you! Going on the must make list for the two potato lovers in this house. Thanks for sharing xxx
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Haha, enjoy! Check the advice I’ve given others! Potato gnocchi is one of those things, once mastered never forgotten but it can be quite a journey to success! Xxx
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Can’t wait to give it a go x
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We like the idea of gnocchi, as we love everything spud like, but have never made them and only ever had rubbery tasteless ones by others…maybe it’s about time we packed away our gnocchi prejudices and tried again!
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Do, good gnocchi are delicious! If you can tolerate gluten you should be able to make fabulous light gnocchi with just potato and fine plain flour, no egg. Like making scones, you need to handle the dough to a minimum, but with gnocchi it’s important that you add as little flour as possible to achieve light pillowy dumplings. Consult a good Italian recipe book is probably the best advice I can give you. Good luck, I’d love to hear or better still read about your success!
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Your recipe reminded me that I haven’t made ricotta gnocchi for a long time. Quite easy and quick to make… I ‘ll have to find the recipe and post it. I had a disaster the only time I made potato gnocchi so I will give your recipe a try.
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Please let me know how it goes. A couple of tips, especially as you had issues in the past. It’s important not to over knead the potato as it will become gluey, and also keep in mind the less flour you use the more tender the gnocchi will be! Love to see your ricotta gnocchi!
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