Potato Gnocchi with Pecorino Cream Sauce

Potato Gnocchi with Pecorino Cream Sauce is a flavorful dish to make leaving your tasters wanting more.

Pecorino Cream can also be used on sandwiches so be sure to make extra so you can add it to a sandwich on nice crunchy Italian bread.

Potato Gnocchi with Pecorino Cream Sauce recipe courtesy of Ciao Italia

Ingredients

SAUCE

1 cup young Pecorino cheese cut into small pieces

2/3 cup heavy cream

Grinding of black pepper

DOUGH

6 large Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed

1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

Semolina flour as needed

Potato starch as needed

Directions

Put the cheese and cream in a small saucepan and heat it until the cheese melts. Mix the sauce so it is smooth; cover it, set it aside and keep it warm while making the gnocchi.

Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover them with cold water. Bring them to a boil and cook them until they are fork tender. Drain and cool the potatoes, then peel them.

Rice the potatoes into a large bowl or mash them using a hand masher. Stir in the salt to taste.

Lightly spread a work surface with a thin layer of semolina flour. Divide the potato mixture into 4 sections and work with one at a time. Roll the potatoes under the palm of your hand on the floured surface to form a long rope about the thickness of your middle finger. Cut one small piece and drop it into a small pan of boiling water to see if it will hold together without breaking up in the water. If it holds together, cut the remaining rope into 1-inch pieces and place them in single layers on floured towels. If the dough does not hold together, remix all the potatoes with a little bit of potato starch, using 1 tablespoon at a time and testing as above until the gnocchi hold together.

Continue making more gnocchi until all the dough is used.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Gently lift the towels with the gnocchi and shake them into the boiling water. They will not take long to cook, only a minute, or until they bob to the top.

Remove them with a slotted strainer, making sure to shake off the excess water and place them on a platter.

Pour the warm sauce over the top and give the gnocchi a grinding of pepper. Serve at once.