Instant Bargains: Simple Gnocchi Recipe

Look out Rachael Ray, there's a pre-teen who wants your job!  My daughter, Sydney, loves to cook.  She was recently paging through my book, Instant Bargains: 600+ Ways to Shrink Your Grocery Bills and Eat Well for Less, and said, “Wow, there are some really good tips in here!”  Um yes, honey – that's what I spent the larger part of 2009 researching and writing!

She stumbled upon the simple gnocchi recipe on page 262 and decided to make it herself.  We've made this recipe many times, and it's a family favorite.  The best part is that it's easy, frugal, and everyone likes it.  My son used to like to “help” me make it when he was little, because it was almost like playing with play dough… except the outcome was something YUMMY!

Simple Gnocchi Recipe

1 C. dry potato flakes
1 C. boiling water
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger
1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour

Combine potato flakes and boiling water. Allow to cool. Add in remaining ingredients and mix until dough forms. Roll out dough like a snake and cut into small, bite-sized pieces. Drop into boiling water. When dumplings rise and start to float, remove with slotted spoon.

Serve like you would pasta – meat sauces are great over this.  For our gnocchi sauce, we used a little bit of the Philadelphia Cooking Creme (the Italian Blend flavor) thinned out with milk.  We topped with fresh grated Parmesan.  It was delicious!