Gnocchi Made with Instant Potatoes

[Granny Smith]

Gnocchi Made with Instant Potatoes

1 cup hot water
1 cup instant potato flakes
1 t. salt
pinch of nutmeg
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour (and more for dusting)

Stir potatoes and salt into hot water. Cool to lukewarm.

Stir in nutmeg, egg, and flour. Form into a ball. Refrigerate 10 minutes if needed.

Cut ball into quarters. Roll one quarter into a log about 1/2" in diameter. Cut into 1/2" pieces. Roll each piece with the tines of a fork to make a slight design. The design will hold butter or sauce. Repeat with remaining quarters.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add about 1/4 of the gnocchi and cook until they rise to the top, plus 2 minutes more. Scoop them out and add more until all are cooked.

Serve with butter, garlic butter, or whatever kind of sauce you'd like. (I like spaghetti sauce)

[eyeofthestorm]

My mother's family were Italian immigrants, and gnocchi was a very special food - it was one of two pasta forms that we ONLY ever had made from scratch. My grandfather prefered this type of gnocchi (potato based with no cheese in the dough mix itself), but without the nutmeg.

The thing is, I can recall my grandmother, her sisters, and my mother all bewailing if you'd get "wet" pototaoes to cook for the base. When potatoes were "wet," they said you'd get more gnocchi, but you'd be making them all day while you waited for the dough to absorb all the flour. When my mother heard of the idea of using instant potatoes, I think she might have actually heard angels sing 😂

[Granny Smith]

I used to make them with fresh potatoes and it was a real process. That's why I only made them once in a great while. Since I found this recipe, I've made them at least a dozen times. It's so easy.