Solving Sticky Pasta Dough: A Mom's Experience

[monica_sweetconsultant]

I made this last night and thought it was pretty good and my kids loved it!! they said it tasted like ravioli ( i used the marinara sauce). anyways my question is that it was SO STICKY!! me, my daughter who was helping, and my kitchen turned into flour puffs!! i kept adding additional flour to help with the stickiness but the directions said to not make it dry either. is there a way to balance it without drying it out? i dont think i will be making this at shows since its so messy.....

 

[Michael Serrano]

Hi Monica,

I experienced the same when I made them about 3 weeks ago. I found that I ended up using a whole cup and a half more flour then the recipe called for. I too had flour everywhere..lol

After cooking (for the 4-5 minutes as per recipe) I found that they were to chewy and thick. I made the walnut and basil pesto. I don't think I will be demoing this at shows either.

All the Best,

Michael

 

[monica_sweetconsultant]

wow thanks now i dont feel so bad. mine wasnt chewy or anything...it was actually really good, just like a dumpling should be. oh well it was fun to make with my daughter who is only 4!! we had a blast!! but i dont think my hosts would appreciage the mess we made..lol!!

 

[chrissyk]

Tried them tonightI made these tonight and thought they were pretty good. I served them with marinara sauce and the kids loved them. I didn't have too much trouble with them, but I did not use instant potatoes...my kids don't allow them in the house! I instead used the pre-made refrigerated Bob Evans mashed potatoes from the grocery store. I mixed in exactly the amount of flour it called for and just had to dust it a little on the outside to roll it out. I rolled the pizza cutter in flour every once in a while to keep them from sticking to it. The only real problem I had was that some of them wanted to stick to the cutting board and so by the time I got them all into the water, the first ones that I'd put in were already floating to the top because they were done.

 

[WendyAebi]

How funny!! I was just coming to post that I made these at my show last night and I'm going to be making them at every opportunity I get!!! You can pack light and it's a quick demo.

OK, the secret to gnocchi--the mashed potatoes must be on the dry side, not creamy as if you were really eating them. Otherwise, yeah, the dough is going to be so sticky you can't even deal with it. Also make sure the potatoes are completely cooled.

Fun things I learned about gnocchi:
In Florence, Italy, they're called "topini" (field mice) because their size and shape resembles field mice. I read a funny story on line somewhere about a guy's mother-in-law who came from Florence to visit them in some other region of Italy. They took her to a restaurant and she saw somebody else eating gnocchi and told her waiter that she wanted topini like she saw over there. The waiter flips out, We have no topini here! She insists, "There's topini, right over there!" Back & forth, back & forth. Other waiters and eventually the owner get involved before they get it straightened out. Moral of the story: Don't go into a restaurant and order "rat!" LOL

In Argentina, Italian food is very very popular. Gnocchi is traditionally eaten on the 29th because that's the day before payday when people are at their poorest.

Also, (and I think this was Argentina, not Italy) gnocchi is slang for somebody who is dense because if you add too much flour to gnocchi it gets, well, dense

A recruiting seed I planted that got a big laugh--when I was rolling out the dough into logs, I said, "This is the hardest part of my job!"

 

[ShanaSmith]

Thanks for the tidbits to share about Gnocchi. I have made them a couple of time. I love them, my Italian Grandfather is smiling down on me when I make them! I make the mashed potatos in the micro rice cooker, it takes about 7 minutes and makes them a little bit more healthy (no butter).

 

[Euro Chef Sandi]

Sauce variationI live in Germany, and Gnocci is very popular in the Italian restaurants over here. My favorite sauce to have with them is gorgonzola sauce. I wanted to find something similar (jarred spaghetti sauce just didn't sound too exciting!!).

If you have the "It's Good For You" recipe book, try making the gnocci with the sauce for the "Shrimp and Linguine" recipe. I added a little diced up cooked chicken to it instead of the shrimp and my family loved it!! Plus it's a healthier alternative to regular cream-based sauces (like alfredo).

Sandi~

 

[BethCooks4U]

I live in Germany, and Gnocci is very popular in the Italian restaurants over here. My favorite sauce to have with them is gorgonzola sauce. I wanted to find something similar (jarred spaghetti sauce just didn't sound too exciting!!).

If you have the "It's Good For You" recipe book, try making the gnocci with the sauce for the "Shrimp and Linguine" recipe. I added a little diced up cooked chicken to it instead of the shrimp and my family loved it!! Plus it's a healthier alternative to regular cream-based sauces (like alfredo).

Sandi~

Thanks Sandi for that great tip!!

 

[stephanieboyd]

What a great idea!!!Sandi,
We, also are living in Germany, and love the gnocchi in the Italian restaurants!! My husband was stationed at Aviano in Northern Italy during the first Gulf war. His absolute favorite is gnocchi with gorgonzola!!! His neighbor in Italy taught him to make Carbonara, so that's the only time I allow him in the kitchen!! I ran straight to the kitchen to grab the 'It's good for you' cookbook to check out that recipe! We can't wait to try that!! I was so excited to see that gnocchi was our featured recipe because I really want to make it for my husband. Of course, I didn't want to go with the jarred sauce either!!

For those of you in the states, the only chain italian restaurant I have ever seen gnocchi with gorgonzola at is Maggiano's! Kind of pricey, but if you have a great month and can take your hubby's out for dinner....try Maggiano's!

 

[CatherinesKitchen]

I have tried this recipe twice & both times I too looked like a "flour puff". I finally had a chance to watch the Spring into Success dvd the other day & paid close attention to the gnocchi demo. Her potatoes looked dry when she went to mix the egg into them, where mine were wet. I'm going to try this recipe 1 more time with dry potatoes.

 

[LindaK]

Just a note about sticky gnocchi, make sure the potatoes (and I would encourage you to use baked or boiled potatoes and not instant) is to make sure that they are cooled before you work with them.

 

[its_me_susan]

I made this last night and thought it was pretty good and my kids loved it!! they said it tasted like ravioli ( i used the marinara sauce). anyways my question is that it was SO STICKY!! me, my daughter who was helping, and my kitchen turned into flour puffs!! i kept adding additional flour to help with the stickiness but the directions said to not make it dry either. is there a way to balance it without drying it out? i dont think i will be making this at shows since its so messy.....

Monica (sorry I should have searched for this thread before starting my own) ~ I just used my flour shaker full of flour (I have one for powdered sugar, one for cinn/sugar and one for flour) to flour the cutting board a few times while kneading and again when rolling whenever it was sticky. It wasn't too messy for me.

 

[its_me_susan]

I made these tonight and thought they were pretty good. I served them with marinara sauce and the kids loved them. I didn't have too much trouble with them, but I did not use instant potatoes...my kids don't allow them in the house! I instead used the pre-made refrigerated Bob Evans mashed potatoes from the grocery store. I mixed in exactly the amount of flour it called for and just had to dust it a little on the outside to roll it out. I rolled the pizza cutter in flour every once in a while to keep them from sticking to it. The only real problem I had was that some of them wanted to stick to the cutting board and so by the time I got them all into the water, the first ones that I'd put in were already floating to the top because they were done.

Chrissy, did you "roll" them out with the roller? I make little snakes the playdoh way.

Another question ~ how to plop them into the water (I used the scraper thing) without splashing yourself?

 

[its_me_susan]

I live in Germany, and Gnocci is very popular in the Italian restaurants over here. My favorite sauce to have with them is gorgonzola sauce. I wanted to find something similar (jarred spaghetti sauce just didn't sound too exciting!!).

If you have the "It's Good For You" recipe book, try making the gnocci with the sauce for the "Shrimp and Linguine" recipe. I added a little diced up cooked chicken to it instead of the shrimp and my family loved it!! Plus it's a healthier alternative to regular cream-based sauces (like alfredo).

Sandi~

Sandi, do you put the chicken/shrimp INTO the gnocchi or just mix it WITH them? Thanks for the suggestion. Bet they would be good with a scampi sauce too?

 

[WendyAebi]

Another question ~ how to plop them into the water (I used the scraper thing) without splashing yourself?

Susan, I laid my cutting board so that it covered 1/2 the pot and pushed them in with the metal spatula. It worked pretty well.

 

[its_me_susan]

Susan, I laid my cutting board so that it covered 1/2 the pot and pushed them in with the metal spatula. It worked pretty well.

I did that too - - but I guess the spatula keeps your hands away from splashes? I'll try it next time. Thanks so much for sharing!!!

 

[monica_sweetconsultant]

thanks for the tip with the flour/sugar shaker!! i never thought about that but it was a lightbulb moment when i read that!! if nothing else i had a blast making it with my daughter!!