Gnocchi w/ Tomato Broth

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I received "The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook" (by Deb Perelman) for Christmas from my husband.  Merry Christmas to HIM, right?  ;)  I've loved SK's blog for many moons, and now I have made a hobby of drooling over her cookbook.

The vegetarian main dish section in this book caught my eye, and I thought I'd try a couple of them this week.  

The tomato broth in this dish is. so. good.  I could use it as a base for a billion other recipes.  It may seem like kind of a pain to let something simmer on the stove for 45 minutes, but I think that is when the magic occurs, so don't mess with this very good thing.

Have you ever had gnocchi?  (Pronounced "NO-key")  It is one of my favorite "pastas," but I've only had it with creamy sauces.  When I found these instructions for making my own, I just had to try it out!

If you're interested in making your own gnocchi, as SK does in her book, give yourself about an hour & a half before dinner to try this recipe out: (more notes on this dish can be found here on the Smitten Kitchen blog:

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INGREDIENTS:
2 lbs Russet potatoes (3 or 4)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp table salt
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting surface

{I used white whole-wheat flour for half of the flour called for in this recipe...in hindsight, I think I would splurge & stick with all-purpose flour.}

DIRECTIONS:
Heat your oven to 400 degrees. Bake potatoes for 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on size, until a thin knife can easily pierce through them. Meanwhile, prepare the tomato broth.

Let the potatoes cool for 10 minutes after baking, then peel them with a knife or a peeler. Run the potatoes through a potato ricer or grate them on the large holes of a box grater.

{I used my food processor for this and it took 0.012 seconds.  Easy peasy.}

Cool them to lukewarm, about another 10 minutes. Add the egg and salt, mixing to combine. Add 1/2 cup flour, and mix to combine. Add the next 1/2 cup flour, mixing again. Add 1/4 cup flour, and see if this is enough to form a dough that does not easily stick to your hands. If not, add the last 1/4 cup of flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough is soft but only a little sticky, and able to hold its shape enough to be rolled into a rope.

{I mixed my dough by hand, and I think next time I'll try the mixer or dough attachment on the food processor.  My gnocchi was *just* undermixed.  If you mix by hand, make sure you don't skip the kneading in the next step!}

Knead the dough together briefly, gently, on a counter, just for a minute. Divide the dough into quarters. Roll each piece into a long rope, about 3/4-inch thick. Cut each rope into 3/4-inch lengths.

{My family decided we would like these smaller than what I made--my gnocchi was more of a 1-in length.  I would stick with 3/4-in or even 1/2-in.}

Place the gnocchi, a quarter-batch at a time, into a pot of boiling well-salted water. Cook the gnocchi until they float — about 2 minutes — then drain.

ON THE SIDE SUGGESTION: We didn't need anything on the side, but Smitten Kitchen recommends shaved parmesan or a dollop of ricotta cheese over the top for a little something extra.