White Trash Gnocchi

I’m in love with a woman who stubbornly loves instant mashed potatoes (Potato Buds). I’m a chef. Something had to give.

So when I opened the refrigerator, a bowl of left over mashed potatoes slid out. I figured I’d try to make gnocchi.

Traditionally, gnocchi is a pasta made by mixing mashed baked potatoes, eggs and flour and forming little pillows by hand. The potatoes alone take an hour to bake in the oven.

In my hand, I saw an opportunity to make gnocchi without heating an oven in the middle of the summer.

I made cracked and egg into the bowl of instant potatoes, added salt and whisked everything together until smooth.

Then I added flour a bit at a time until a dry dough formed and let it rest in the refrigerator for a half hour and set a pot of salted water on the stove to boil.

After it rested, I cut the dough into strips, which I then rolled to form half-inch diameter ropes on a floured cutting board. The ropes were then cut into half-inch pieces and dropped into the boiling water.

Stir gnocchi once and let cook. The gnocchi are done when they float to the surface.

Drain.

I served them with a fresh sage butter sauce with parmesan cheese and grated lemon zest.

They worked. They were light. They were fluffy. They were an excellent equalizer between a bizarre food fondness and chef.