Recipes › Potato › Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter and Toasted Walnuts
Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter and Toasted Walnuts
Homemade potato gnocchi is one of those things that seems daunting until you have made it once, after which it becomes something you want to make every week. The secret is baking the potatoes rather than boiling them, which keeps the flesh dry and means you need far less flour — giving you light, pillowy gnocchi rather than dense dumplings. A quick sage brown butter and walnuts is all the sauce they need.
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Ingredients
- 1000 large floury potatoes, unpeeled, scrubbedMaris Piper or King Edward — avoid waxy varieties entirely
- 160 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 30 finely grated Parmesan
- 90 g unsalted butter
- 16 fresh sage leaves
- 60 g walnut halves, roughly broken
- ½ lemon, juice only
- 30 g extra Parmesan, finely grated, to serve (optional)
Contains: cereals gluten, eggs, milk, nuts.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C fan (220°C conventional). Prick the potatoes all over with a fork and bake directly on the oven shelf for 55–60 minutes until completely tender all the way through when pierced with a skewer.About 60 min
- While the potatoes are still hot, halve them and scoop the flesh into a ricer or through a fine sieve onto a clean work surface. Spread the riced potato out and leave for 5 minutes — the steam escaping is the whole point, so don't skip this.About 5 min
- Scatter the flour, salt and Parmesan over the riced potato. Make a well in the centre, add the egg yolk, and bring everything together with your hands as lightly as possible. Work just until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms — do not knead it. The less you work the dough, the lighter the gnocchi.About 5 min
- Dust the work surface lightly with flour. Divide the dough into 6 pieces and roll each one into a rope about 2cm thick. Cut across each rope at 2cm intervals to make the gnocchi. For the classic ridged shape, press each piece gently across the back of a fork and roll it off — though this step is optional.About 10 min
- Bring a large pan of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Toast the walnut pieces in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for 3–4 minutes, stirring, until golden and fragrant. Set aside.About 4 min
- Cook the gnocchi in the boiling water in two batches — they are ready 30 seconds after they float to the surface. Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and transfer to a warm bowl while you cook the rest.About 6 min
- Melt the butter in a wide frying pan over a medium-high heat. Once it foams and then begins to turn a deep golden-brown with a nutty smell — about 3 minutes — add the sage leaves. They will crisp up almost immediately. Add the cooked gnocchi to the pan, toss to coat in the butter, then add the lemon juice and toasted walnuts. Toss once more and serve immediately with extra Parmesan if using.About 5 min
Tips
- Baking, not boiling, the potatoes is non-negotiable for light gnocchi — boiled potatoes hold water and force you to add more flour to compensate, which makes the gnocchi heavy and chewy.
- The moment the dough comes together, stop working it. Overworked gnocchi dough develops gluten and the results will be tough and dense rather than light and tender.
- Test one gnocchi in the boiling water before cooking the whole batch — if it falls apart, work a little more flour into the dough.
Ring the changes
- The sage brown butter also works brilliantly with a handful of crumbled gorgonzola dolce melted in at the last moment — leave out the walnuts or keep them.
- Form the gnocchi up to a day ahead, lay on a floured tray, cover loosely with cling film and refrigerate. Cook straight from cold, adding 30 seconds to the cooking time.
Keeping it
Uncooked shaped gnocchi can be frozen on a tray, then transferred to a bag and kept for up to 1 month — cook from frozen, allowing an extra minute. Cooked gnocchi dressed in butter does not store well; eat immediately.
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