Easy Pink Valentine’s Day Gnocchi
It’s almost Valentine’s Day and I can’t think of a better way to spend it than at home making homemade pink gnocchi! It’s easy, delicious and naturally colored.
Homemade Gnocchi is a favorite in our home. Soft, pillowy bites of heaven! You don’t need any special equipment to make it and it only take a couple minutes to cook. There’s truly no reason NOT to make it!
This Pink Valentine’s Day gnocchi is colored using Dragon Fruit Powder for a subtle, natural food coloring alternative. I serve mine with a simple alfredo sauce because I love the white sauce on the pink pasta but you can use any sauce you like! It’s just so dang cute!!!
If you want to make this gnocchi ahead of time, you can place all of the uncooked gnocchi on a baking sheet (making sure they aren’t touching) and freeze them until firm. From there, you can store them in a zip loc or container in the freezer then simply boil the when you are ready to eat.
Tips for Perfect Gnocchi
- Make sure your potatoes are smooth. Traditionally the potatoes are put through a ricer for a fine texture but if you don’t have one (like me) you can just mash them!
- Do not over work the dough. You want to mix the dough just enough so that everything is combined and there are no dry bits. This will ensure the gnocchi stays nice and tender.
- When boiling your pasta, the gnocchi will float to the top of that water when they are done.
- I always recommend tossing your gnocchi in sauce as soon as they are cooked. This prevents the gnocchi from sticking together.
Valentine’s Day Gnocchi Ingredients
Flour- You can use all purpose flour but my favorite for all of my pasta is this one https://amzn.to/3ErHZYr It is finer, and gives you perfectly soft and tender gnocchi or pasta.
Potatoes- I make my gnocchi with either yellow potatoes or russet potatoes.
Egg- There is just one egg in the dough.
Dragon Fruit Powder- This powder is a natural alternative to food coloring and you can’t taste it! You can find the one I use here https://amzn.to/3WO3mt3
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the Steps
1. Start by boiling the potatoes. I like to peel them, then boil them whole until fork tender.
2. Next, remove the potatoes from the water and pat dry. Run the potatoes through a ricer or mash them until smooth.
3. Grab a medium sized bowl and add the potatoes and flour to it.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and dragon fruit powder together until smooth. Pour this mixture over the potatoes and flour and begin to gently mix with a fork.
5. Once the mixture starts to come together but is still crumbly, dump it onto the counter and gently fold it until there are no dry spots left and you have a ball of dough. Do not over work the dough!
6. Divide the dough ball into 6 and flour your counter (you can mix a bit of the dragon fruit powder with 1/4 cup of flour and use this to flour your counter so the gnocchi stay pink). Gently roll each piece into a long log, about 1/2 an ich in diameter. Slice the log into little gnocchi pieces and set aside. You can make them as big or small as you like. I recommend about 1/2 an inch wide.
7. At this point you can leave the gnocchi how they are or if you have a wooden gnocchi board, you can roll each gnocchi on that to give you those nice grooves. This is completely just for looks!
8. Finally, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in the gnocchi and cook for about 5 minutes or until the gnocchi float to the surface. Strain the cooked gnocchi and toss in your favorite sauce then enjoy!
Share this with your loved ones this Valentine’s day and let us know if you try it!
Pink Valentine's Day Gnocchi
Soft and tender homemade gnocchi with a beautiful pink color! Perfect for Valentine's Day.
Ingredients
- 4 Medium sized yellow or russet potatoes
- 2 cups OO flour
- 1 Egg
- 1-2 tsp Dragon fruit powder
Instructions
- Start by boiling the potatoes. I like to peel them, then boil them whole until fork tender.
- Next, remove the potatoes from the water and pat dry. Run the potatoes through a ricer or mash them until smooth.
- Grab a medium sized bowl and add the potatoes and flour to it.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and dragon fruit powder together until smooth. Pour this mixture over the potatoes and flour and begin to gently mix with a fork.
- Once the mixture starts to come together but is still crumbly, dump it onto the counter and gently fold it until there are no dry spots left and you have a ball of dough. Do not over work the dough!
- Divide the dough ball into 6 and flour your counter (you can mix a bit of the dragon fruit powder with 1/4 cup of flour and use this to flour your counter so the gnocchi stay pink). Gently roll each piece into a long log, about 1/2 an ich in diameter. Slice the log into little gnocchi pieces and set aside. You can make them as big or small as you like. I recommend about 1/2 an inch wide.
- At this point you can leave the gnocchi how they are or if you have a wooden gnocchi board, you can roll each gnocchi on that to give you those nice grooves. This is completely just for looks!
- Finally, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in the gnocchi and cook for about 5 minutes or until the gnocchi float to the surface.
- Strain the cooked gnocchi and toss in your favorite sauce then enjoy!
Notes
*Start with 1 tsp of the dragon fruit powder and if you want your gnocchi a brighter pink, you can add more from there.
*You can make this ahead of time by flash freezing the shaped gnocchi on a baking sheet then storing it in a zip loc in the freezer until you are ready to eat. Simply remove them from the freezer, boil them and enjoy!
