A Second Life for Mashed Potatoes Part I

I took a detour from the norm and in lieu of Mashed Potato Pancakes I decided to make a PlannedOver out of a PlannedOver!  Gnocchi, like so many good things in life, is rather time consuming- it is not impossible or even terribly difficult, but if you are going to invest the time - you might as well make it very worth your while.  I started with PlannedOver mashed potatoes and to that added 2 eggs and some AP flour.

Mashed

Mashed with Egg

Potatoes with egg and flour

The amount of flour you will use will be highly dependent on both how wet your mashed potatoes are, and how humid it is outside. You want just enough flour for the dough to hold a soft shape.  If you overwork the dough - you will know it in the form of tough finished product.  Lightly working the dough and keeping it somewhat loose is the key to ethereally light pillow soft gnocchi.  It will take experimentation and you'll probably have some ledden pellets before you achive gnocchi perfection and that is simple part of the learning process.  If it is your very first time I would recommend dividing the mashed potatoes into fourths, add some beaten egg and slowly incorperate AP flour until you think you've got it right.  Keep a pot of salted water on a boil while you work and drop a piece of dough in from time to time to check your work.  Most importantly - have fun with it.

Onto stage two.  We will roll out the dough on a floured surface into long strands.

Then using a fork - cut to your desired length.

Now here is where PlannedOver part two comes into play.  I put all of my gnocchi onto a sheet pan and into the freezer!!

Once frozen I transfer to a gallon freezer ziplock and now you do have an elegant side that is last minute time friendly.

Stay tuned for next week for taking these beauties from blah beige to gorgeous golden brown!

Happy gnocching and Happy Eating!!!