RecipesPasta & Co

Delicious & Tricolor small Gnocchi

by Micaela Harrasser

Today I am showing you this smaller (and way cuter) variation of potato gnocchi. They’re called chicche and you can make them either plain – as in using the basic recipe – or color them for a charming, eye-catching delicious dish!

The recipe is super simple – the same as traditional gnocchi. When it’s time to shape and cut them, make small cubes (1cm). For the coloring, the traditional way is to make the dough green and red.

For the green, the easiest (and healthy) way is to use boiled spinach paste (you just boil the spinach and make a paste using a blender). Alternatively, you could use cavolo nero (Tuscan kale). For the red, I am sharing here the simplest option which is just adding some tomato concentrate (the stuff you usually get in the tubes). Alternatives include carrots, beets, pumpkin.

For the sauce, you can use everything you would normally put on gnocchi: butter and sage, a rich tomato sauce, my fabulous parmigiano sauce, or the one you see pictured here: cooking cream, a dash of parmigiano, a pinch of pepper and of freshly cut chives. Delicate, but rich and delicious! Enjoy!

[ratings]

Delicious & Tricolor small Gnocchi

Serves: 3x as main Prep Time: Cooking Time: Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

  • 500g potatoes peeled and cubed
  • 1 egg
  • Salt and pepper a pinch
  • 200g all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
  • Coloring: 60g spinach to boil and make into a paste
  • 1 tsp tomato concentrate

Instructions

  1. Clean, peel and dice the potatoes.
  2. Boil the potatoes in abundant water until soft, about 15 minutes.
  3. Drain the potatoes and mash with a fork or through a potato masher.
  4. Combine with the flour, salt and pepper.
  5. Add the beaten egg and combine.
  6. Work the dough first with a spoon then with your hands until you form a smooth ball with all ingredients combined.
  7. It should be soft but not sticky – if it sticks to your hands add extra flour.
  8. Shape it as rectangle and divide equally into 3 pieces.
  9. Take one piece, flatten it, and add the tomato concentrate in the center.
  10. Fold it onto itself (eventually add extra flour to prevent the tomato paste from coloring your worktop instead of your dough) and work the dough until the tomato paste is well combined and you get an even, pale red color.
  11. Set the dough aside, and do the same to the second piece by adding the spinach.
  12. Once you get the three colored doughs, take one at time.
  13. Flatten it to about 1cm, then cut it into strips 1cm wide.
  14. Make small cubes from those strips.
  15. Cover generously with flour to prevent them from sticking to each other.
  16. Repeat with all the doughs.
  17. Set a big pot with abundant water to boil.
  18. Add salt, then add the gnocchetti.
  19. Cook until they start floating, about 2-3 minutes.
  20. Take out, add the sauce of choice (here cooking cream, a bit of grated cheese and fresh chives), and enjoy this very patriotic dish! 😀

Notes

The freshly made chicche will keep uncooked in the fridge for a couple of days. make sure to dust them with plenty of flour and mix them every now and then to make sure they don't stick together.

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