Spinach & Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients:

- 1 lb Idaho Potatoes or Yukon Potatoes **use 1 egg yolk per pound
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 20 ounces fresh spinach
- All Purpose Flour, as needed
- Fresh Nutmeg, a pinch
- Salt/Pepper, to taste
- Parmesan Cheese (grated very fine), to taste

Directions:

For Spinach Puree:
- Wilt spinach in a pot of salted, boiling water for 3 minutes. Remove and shock in an ice water bath. Once the spinach is cooled, remove from the bath, and drain all liquid. It’s important to COMPLETELY drain the liquid, as moisture will ruin the gnocchi.
- Put the drained spinach through a food processor and puree to a paste.
For Gnocchi:
- Pierce your potatoes and bake potatoes in a 325 degrees oven until fork tender.
- Once baked, cut in half and scoop out flesh while still hot.
- Season potatoes with salt and add a light drizzle of olive oil
- Add a little bit of grated nutmeg.
- Add some finely grated parmesan cheese to taste.
- Put the mixture through a potato ricer.
- Gently mix in the spinach paste and egg. Do not overmix. Use a couple tablespoons of spinach paste per pound of potatoes.
- Taste for seasonings.
- Sprinkle some flour the surface of your counter.
- Just put enough flour in the potato mixture to make it workable. Be careful not to add too much. The flour is only to allow for working the gnocchi, but you want a minimum amount.
- As soon as you are able to shape the mixture, you are done with the flour. Put the mixture onto the floured surface, and lightly roll with your hands into a rope.
- Cut the rope into 1 inch pieces.
- At this point you can simply form an indent in each gnocchi, use fork tongs to make ridges or a gnocchi board to make ridges. For ridges, lightly roll the gnocchi on the face of the fork tongs or board, and make a slight indent while rolling. ** The ridges allow for sauce to stick to the gnocchi.
- Get a pot of salted water boiling.
- Place the gnocchi in the boiling water for a few minutes, until cooked. Immediately shock the gnocchi in an ice water bath. Remove from the bath once cooled.
***Note, the ice water batch only needs to be done if you want to later saute the gnocchi or bake with sauce. If you plan on serving immediately, you can simply drain to a plate, and serve with sauce.

- Serve the gnocchi to your desire. You can saute the gnocchi once shocked/cool. Saute in olive oil, butter, garlic, fresh herbs, sundried tomatoes etc. You can also bake the shocked/cooled gnocchi in the oven with sauce and cheese.
- Gnocchi can also be made well in advance. You can freeze the unboiled gnocchi on a baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer the gnocchi to a freezer bag. They can be boiled straight from the freezer. There is no need to thaw.