It is the most vivid memory of my early childhood: Sunday lunch at my paternal grandparents’ house.
Like all good housewives, she prepared a favorite dish for every dinner. There were: the breaded beef escallop for the grandchildren, the roulade that my father liked, and the meatballs, which were made because the sauce could serve as the seasoning for the gnocchi, which everyone liked!
In Rome, gnocchi is the typical dish on Thursday; in the Roman Osteria, you will find the gnocchi served with the sauce from cooked meatballs or with a simple tomato sauce.

Grandma Violetta's vegan potato gnocchi

  • Preparation time: 120 minutes
  • Ingredients for 6 servings
  • Difficulty: Average difficulty recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 900 kg or 2 lbs. red potatoes
  • From 275 gr or 10 oz to 350 gr or 12 oz of flour
  • Salt to taste
  • For the seasoning:
  • 250 gr or 9 oz of peeled tomatoes or tomato sauce
  • Extra virgin olive oil to taste
  • 1 clove of garlic
  1. Instructions
  2. Wash the potatoes.
  3. Boil them in a pot for about forty minutes.
  4. Peel them and mash at least twice to remove any lumps. Put them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and let them cool.
  5. When the mixture is dry and cold, add some flour. Work the mixture briefly until it is uniform. If necessary, add a little more flour.
  6. Sprinkle the flour on the board and flatten the dough. Cut it into 8 sections. Roll each section into a long rope about 1/2 inch thick and 24 inches long. Cut each rope into 1/2 inch pieces. Roll these pieces on a fork or grater. Leave the gnocchi to rest at room temperature for at least an hour.
  7. Meanwhile,prepare the sauce. In a saucepan with the oil and the garlic cook the peeled tomatoes or tomato sauce over a gentle heat for about twenty minutes. Add the basil and salt.
  8. Cook the gnocchi in a pot with boiling salted water. When the gnocchi come to the surface, cook them again for a couple of minutes. Remove them with a skimmer and set them aside in a serving dish.
  9. Serve with plenty of sauce.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • Potatoes are the secret of gnocchi. Floury potatoes, like red potatoes or purple potatoes, should be used.
  • The potatoes should be mixed well with the flour, but you must not work too much of the mixture; otherwise, it becomes sticky.
  • One trick that I use for perfect gnocchi is to make them at least a day before and put them in the freezer for at least 12 hours. Beware, however, placed them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper before freezing to prevent them from sticking to each other.

Grandma Violetta playing poker