Pasta

[patriceinil]

I make gnocchi a lot, I do mine differently than most people. I use mashed potatoes that you would serve with a meal, they have butter and cream in them. Most people use cooked potatoes that they mash without any butter or cream. Those type yield a heavier, more dense finished product where mine are lighter and softer.

[Farmfresh]

What kind of GF flour do you use in them Patrice? I had wondered about making the gnocchi.

[patriceinil]

My homemade blend of 2 parts white rice flour to 1 part each of tapioca starch and potato starch.

I use leftover mashed potatoes or freshly made mashed potatoes, an egg and enough flour to get to a soft Playdough consistency. The KEY with the gluten free flour is to wrap it tightly in plastic or cover the bowl tightly and let it rest at least 20 minutes. That rice flour will be gritty if you don’t let it rest and rehydrate.

People don’t realize that rice flour is cooked rice that is dehydrated and then ground into flour. It needs time to absorb enough liquid in order to lose that crunch that dehydrated things get.

THAT is the KEY to ALL baking and cooking with rice flour, it has to rehydrate in order to avoid the grittiness.

If your dough seems dry after it has rested then work a bit of water into it, not too much or they will be like marshmallows when cooked.

The other thing is they need to cook a bit longer than traditional gnocchi otherwise they are dry and dense in the center. Give them an couple minutes extra in the simmering water after they float.

Drain and dress them immediately or they will develop a tough skin on them.

[patriceinil]

Another thing when cooking or baking with gluten free flour and rice flour is that you often have to DECREASE the fat (oil, butter, lard) in the recipe because gluten free flour DOES NOT absorb fat like traditional wheat flour.

Think of how greasy fried rice can be if it’s not cooked properly, that’s because the rice can’t absorb the oil especially if it is cold from the refrigerator. That starchy coating seals the grain and the rice just gets an oily coating instead of absorbing the oil.

[Farmfresh]

Me thinks you need to do a whole thread on tips and tricks for baking GF. You have a lot of experience at this point to share.

[patriceinil]

I can when I have a bit more time to get some stuff together AND when I can actually sit for more than 20 minutes without pain.

[Farmfresh]

I would appreciate it.