Gnocchi in Roasted Pepper and Tomato Sauce

When it comes to any dish Italian, we generally tend to eat either pizza or pasta or garlic bread.. Gnocchi is something i wanted to try making for long.. I had only few years back while I was in Germany... And even since it has been on my bucket list.. This dish is supposed to be quiet heavy as it is made of potato and cheese.. So it is generally had in smaller portions... But once you start having, you tend to overeat.. Its soo yumm.... The cottony soft dumplings of potatoes, when tossed in a smooth butter and cheese sauce, creates a magical moment, which is hard to resist..

                When i tried googling the recipe, the potato dumplings used eggs as binding agent.. Few used flour as a replacement.. And so i decided to go with it.. But then, I had to be very cautious in using flour as binding agent, as using it in excess would harden the dumplings.. SO the trick was to use as little flour as possible, at the same time be able to bind the dough and make dumplings too..  And this being my first try, i was bit nervous.. Nevertheless i decided to give it an attempt.. And trust meeeeeee, it has been one of the amazing endevour ever.. Got it prefect in the first try... Surprisingly soft, melt in mouth and cheesy..

This pasta can be made either in white sauce or red sauce or pomodoro sauce or bechamel sauce or any sauce that you like.. My family prefers arabiatta sauce and so i made it in red sauce with a twist.. I added a puree of roasted bellpepper to the tomato gravy and it made a noticable difference which was loved by all.. Im sure to try out other variants of gnochhi to very soon..

Ingredients:

2 boiled potatoes

1/2 cup maida

Salt

For sauce

1 red bell pepper roasted and peeled

4-5 tomatoes blanched and peeled

1 onion chopped

3-4 cloves garlic chopped

2tbsp Cream

Salt

Red chilli powder

 Red chilli flakes

 Oregano

Garnishing

3-4tbsp grated cheese

Few leaves of basil

Method - Heat olive oil in a pan.. Saute onions and garlic.. Puree tomato and red bell pepper and add to the pan.. Cook till it is thick and can coat well.. Add spices and cream.. Simmer for few minutes..

To make gnocchi, mash / grate potatoes and add salt and maida 1tbsp at a time and knead into a soft dough.. It will be slightly sticky.. Boil salt and water in a large pot.. Roll out the dough in long rope on a dusted surface and cut into 1inch bites.. Shape it with fork.. Place one by one in the pot of boiling water and cook for a minute or two till it floats on top.. Remove using a slotted spoon and add directly in the sauce.. Cook on slow lame for few minutes.. Garnish with cheese and basil and serve..

Note - First make sauce and then add gnocchis directly into the sauce.. If gnocchis are made before hand and left to cool before adding to the sauce, they might tend to get hard..

Pictorial Representation of Gnocchi..