Purple Potato gnocchi, a healthy and delicious main course you’ll love!

While classic white gnocchi are known everywhere, not many know that you can make them with purple potatoes too. A perfect way to turn a delicious dish into a powerhouse for our health.

Gnocchi are a staple food in Rome, tradition says “Thursday gnocchi!” and many old restaurants and osterias still today keep this tradition alive. While they’re usually made with red or yellow potatoes, you can try this new version that will add a bunch of antioxidants, and minerals.

Purple potato health benefits

Potatoes are already rich in vitamins (even after cooking!), but purple potatoes also contain anthocyanins. These powerful antioxidants can help our health, from improving blood pressure to regulating sugar absorption. 

Purple potatoes can also be an incredible prebiotic. If you cook them and then leave them in the fridge overnight, the starch turns into resistant starch (AKA fibers) that will feed your microbiome and support the growth of good bacteria.

Tips and tricks for making gnocchi

If you want to retain all the nutrients, you can steam purple potatoes instead of boiling them. This will reduce nutrient waste into the water you use to cook them. It will take a bit longer, but you can do so in a pressure cooker or instant pot.  Many come with a basket made specifically for steaming. 

The pressure cooker is always my first choice when cooking potatoes anyway. You can use less water, and they cook in half the time.

When making gnocchi, do not wait for the potatoes to completely cool down. The end result won’t be the same. As soon as you can handle them with your hands, start mixing in the flour and the egg.

Do not use a food processor to mash the potatoes, they’ll become loose and creamy and you won’t be able to make gnocchi out of them.

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Purple potato gnocchi

This stunning purple gnocchi is made with naturally colorful purple potatoes, creating a soft, pillowy pasta with a subtly sweet flavor. Simple to make and beautiful on the plate, it turns a classic comfort dish into something truly eye-catching.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Keyword italian gnocchi recipe, potato gnocchi, purple gnocchi, purple potato gnocchi

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 600 g purple potatoes
• 300 g flour
• 1 egg
• 1 pinch of salt
• 40 g butter
• sage
• 1 tbs coarse salt

Instructions

• Boil the potatoes whole, skin on, with a pinch of salt. Once cooked, drain and let them sit for a couple of minutes.
• Mash the potatoes or use a potato ricer for the perfect texture.
• IMPORTANT!!! Do not use a food processor, otherwise they’ll become creamy ad it will be almost impossible to obtain a decent dough.
• Pour the mashed potatoes into a bowl and add the other ingredients, mix with a spoon or with a spatula, then with your hands until you get a firm dough (it will still be a little sticky, but do not add too much flour, otherwise they’ll become too hard when cooked).
• Roll the dough into cylinders and then cut into 2cm dumplings. You can now choose to roll each dumpling onto a fork to get the striped shape that will gather more sauce, or you can simply make an indentation with your finger.
• Cook gnocchi in abundant salted boiling water.
• While the gnocchi are cooking, heat a pan on low heat, and add the butter and sage. Let the butter melt slowly to avoid burning.
• As soon as the gnocchi float, drain them and add them to the pan with the butter. Add a bit of the cooking water to make the sauce creamier. Add Parmigiano or Grana cheese and serve.