Gnocchi

Dear friends, last Sunday, I tried to make gnocchi, I had a craving and so I did. I indicate the ingredients :
For 4 people
1 kg of potatoes (yellow or red paste)
300g of flour
1 egg
250g of bacon
2 bay leaves
Half onion
800g of tomato
Salt to taste
Pecorino or parmesan cheese to taste.

Let's boil the potatoes and prepare the sauce

Brown the onion and add the pork cheeks.

We let them go together, turning them a little, when the pork cheek takes a nice brown color, we pour the tomato, we lower the flame and let it go for at least 20 minutes, the sauce should pull a little bit.

Mash the potatoes, break an egg and slowly pour in the flour, it should be worked the bare minimum otherwise the gnocchi become too soft.

Small circular sticks for the size you want and cut with a knife and the dumpling is done.
(Pressing them gently on a grater or fork we can give them small shapes that will help to collect the sauce)

Once cooked they come to float on their own

I add this curiosity that I did not know and it was a surprise
Who invented potato gnocchi?

Article by Simone Ricci

One of the many varieties, but undoubtedly the most appreciated: potato gnocchi represent the typical Sunday dish of Italian families, perfect to be seasoned with sauce or pesto and with an unmistakable taste. In particular, their taste allows you to take a step back in time and appreciate the genuineness of the food of the past, but who exactly invented this dish? Let's delve into one of the many compelling stories of cooking.

The Renaissance Origins
With the discovery of America, many products, till then unknown, were imported in Europe. One of them was potatoes: in '500 there were gnocchi, but the dough was not made with tubers, but with bread crumbs, milk and almonds (the name was obviously different). In '600 they changed their name again and they were known as "malfatti", including among the ingredients flour, water and eggs.

Alessandro Volta
The name of Alessandro Volta is associated to the invention of the battery and to the discovery of methane, less known is the story which associates him to potato gnocchi. This aspect of his life should be studied by remembering the figure of a French pharmacist, Antoine Parmentier, who was taken prisoner during the Seven Years War (1756-1763) and interned in Germany. He was fed exclusively with potatoes, at that time used almost exclusively for animal feed, and once he came back from prison he exalted this food, making it known even at the court of Louis XVI. Volta was also present at the court of France and as a good gastronome he favored the cultivation of potatoes in Italy, dispelling the myth of their toxicity. He probably made a mistake in the preparation and composition of a mashed potato, creating potato gnocchi, noticing how light they were compared to the ones made with wheat flour.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)