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    Home » Popular » Italian Recipes

    February 11, 2020 Italian Recipes

    Beet and Potato Gnocchi-Gnocchi di Barbabietola

    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    These little red clouds of Beet and Potato Gnocchi are just so pretty! The beet puree turns the gnocchi a stunning magenta color. Serve it with a simple butter and sage sauce, like we did.

    overhead image of beet and potato gnocchi

    There may be only a handful of my friends that would rush over to eat beet and potato gnocchi -gnocchi di barbabietola, and they are really smart friends! Seriously, I haven't met anyone yet that hasn't been a fan of potato gnocchi, but throw in beets and they may wonder what in the world is going on in our kitchen.

    Beet and Potato Gnocchi

    Originally published in March 2019 and updated on February 11, 2020.

    I'm a huge, I mean HUGE, fan of beets. I love red beets and golden beets. I love them shredded and raw and I especially love them roasted and added to a fun salad like this beet, orange, kumquat and quinoa salad. I love beet juice! I love the color and I love how my fingers turn red when I clean the red beets.

    I can't say that I particularly love canned beets, for me, the fun is all in the preparation of the beets. So on to these gnocchi.

    I've been so excited to attempt to make and photograph them for all of you! It was a long, long time ago when I shared my potato and butternut squash gnocchi with a Bolognese sauce.
     
    Can I tell you how messy it is to make gnocchi and try to photograph them at the same time, especially when you add red beets? Truly, not an easy task. But I was determined to get this together and finally photograph them. I promise to be back with some more homemade pasta or Italian dumplings. Maybe I'll find someone to help me photograph them!!
     
    I had my beets sitting in the fridge for a while, and I was sure they had given up on me and my crazy idea. Luckily, they were still waiting for me and there was really nothing to stop me. Except maybe my husband who said making and photographing them would be a little messy. It didn't seem as if he was too interested in assisting me. It was his night off and he even invited a chef friend to stop by.
     
    SO there you go, no pressure or any thing. Just me and my roasted beets and my cooked potatoes and my sticky dough trying to come together and look cool while the chef friend is looking over at my pasta board asking my husband in Italian if I was making beet gnocchi. And he asked it in a way that seemed he was about to make a critique.
     
    I was working the dough and looked over at him and asked him if it seemed like it was going ok, and he said that's how he makes his beet gnocchi. So I kept on plugging ahead with my gnocchi while my husband continued talking with him and invited him to stay for dinner. He also didn't seem too interested to jump in and help me on his evening off, so I kept plugging ahead and photographed what I could of this fast and sticky process.
     
    overhead imge of homemade dumplings on a wooden board
    overhead imge of dumpling dough
     
    overhead image of red beets and a dumpling dough
    overhead image of red beet gnocchi dough

    How to make simple butter and sage sauce for beet and potato gnocchi

    I wanted to have just a simple butter and sage sauce. The sage we used was from my herb garden. We then added in some fresh chopped tomatoes. There was a stick of butter, a handful of the fresh sage and about 2 cups of chopped fresh tomatoes, salt and pepper. We weren't following a recipe (like many of the Italian savory dishes I do!). If you want to skip the tomatoes, a simple butter and sage sauce would be just perfect!

    overhead image of a butter sage sauce

    Our impromptu gnocchi making night was fun for the whole family and our visiting chef friend here from Italy. We sat outside and enjoyed the gorgeous evening. The kids were arguing just a little bit and my son was wondering why the gnocchi are such a weird color, but he enjoyed every last one!

     

    image of a sky with clouds

     

    Tips on how to make the best beet and potato gnocchi

    As I mentioned in the post above, it's not easy to make gnocchi and to photograph them. You maybe will be making them just for the sheer pleasure of enjoying them, so the mess won't be tricky to deal with. I pureed my beets in my food processor. If you have a potato ricer, that is ideal to get the potatoes totally smooth. You could need more flour as you are going along putting together the gnocchi dough.

    How to make the best gnocchi dough

    Here are some tips to help you make the best gnocchi. It all starts with the potatoes, so make sure you follow the steps below on how to work with the potatoes.

    •  Mash the potatoes while they are hot.
    • cool the potatoes before adding to flour/eggs.
    • don’t forget to add flour to your working surface so it won’t stick while you are working it.
    • don’t over mix or it will become mushy.

    How to cook homemade gnocchi

    • cook in boiling/salted water.
    •  don’t stir while cooking or they will stick
    •  they will float to top when they are ready.

     

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    Beet and Potato Gnocchi-Gnocchi di Barbabietola

    Soft and fluffy Beet and Potato Gnocchi are the perfect weekend cooking project. These vibrant and delicious gnocchi pair perfectly with a butter sage sauce.
    Prep Time1 hr 30 mins
    Cook Time7 mins
    Total Time1 hr 37 mins
    Course: Dinner
    Cuisine: Italian
    Keyword: gnocchi
    Author: Lora

    Ingredients

    • 2 baking potatoes
    • 2 medium beets
    • 2 egg yolks
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1/2 tsp pepper
    • 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 cups flour

    Instructions

    • Preheat oven to 400ºF. Wrap beets with aluminum foil. Wash the potatoes and boil them until they are very soft (boil with peels on). When they are soft, time to mash the potato. You should use a ricer, if you have one or you could use a potato masher. You need to wait until the potatoes are a little cool, but they need to be not cold.
    • Bake beets for 75 minutes. When they are done, leave them on the the counter until they are cool enough to be able to handle.
    • Peel skin from potato and beets. Pass the potato through a ricer or a food mill. If you don't have a ricer or a food mill, use a fork, a masher or a box grater.
    • Put the peeled beets into a food processor and run until the beets are very smooth. Mix potato and beets in a big bowl and combine well.
    • Flour the surface of the counter, make a mound of potato and beets mixture and make a well in the middle. Add egg yolks, salt, pepper in the well and mix them very well with your hands.
    • Add 1/2 cup flour and mix into the potatoes. Keep adding 1/2 cup flour, mix and fold until the dough is still soft but dry enough to handle when you roll it.
    • Flour the counter again and divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a 1/2-inch diameter rope then cut into 3/4-inch long piece with a knife. If you have the time to make indentations on your gnocchi, press gently each pieces of gnocchi gently with a back of a large fork to make the ridges.
    • Set them aside on floured baking sheets with parchment paper or kitchen towel (not paper) and dust with more flour on top of the gnocchi.
    • At this point, you can freeze them on the baking sheets or cook them. Cook them in simmering hot water until the gnocchi rise to the water surface. Give them another minute in the water and remove them from the water. Toss them with olive oil. If you don't eat until later that day, you still need to cook them, coat with olive oil and refrigerate until time to eat. Right before you eat, reheat the gnocchi with hot water for 30 seconds.
    Tried this recipe?Mention @savoringitaly or tag #savoringitaly!
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. mimi rippee says

      February 18, 2020 at 1:42 pm

      What a fabulous recipe! I love beets as well, but have never used them this way. I have filled ravioli with them, but I love what the beets do to the color! You could really make these for a special occasion!!

      Reply
      • Lora says

        February 20, 2020 at 7:58 am

        Hi Mimi-Thank you!! Yes, the beets add such a stunning surprise of color to so many things! Hope you have a great rest of your week!

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    lora and gabby

    Welcome to our Italian kitchen! We are Lora and Gabriella, the mother-daughter team behind Savoring Italy. With more than 30+ years of experience in the kitchen, Lora has had a great advantage – receiving guidance from both her husband who is an executive chef/restaurant owner and her mother who is a renowned private chef. 

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