[100folds]

Phil,
Is it the flavor or the texture that makes undesirable to you? Just curious. I personally am not fond of the lack of flavor so I made the pumpkin gnocci and really enjoyed it. Served it with a roasted red pepper sauce and put splashes of basil pesto on it. Maybe too much flavor but the esatics were there. Be a nice pasta course with some changes.

[phatch]

There's little flavor and no chew or textue, say, as of disintegrating interestinly like meringue. Baking helped, but not enough. No counterpoint or support for the sauce. Presents nicely though.

My kids all liked them quite well, better than other gnocchi I've served them. If my youngest hadn't recently had his birthday, I think he might have requested them for his birthday meal.

I am still intrigued by the ricotta gnocchi and some of the other flavors.

Phil

[Skeleton]

The chef that trained me was a gnocchi expert, and he never taught me his secrets. Shame.

Anyway, i can tell you what NOT to use for gnocchi and that is sweet potato. BLECH! Where I work now we use it and it's terrible. I don't know what could have posessed them... Anyway....

[Mezzaluna]

I believe using winter squash in gnocchi is not unusual in Italy. I think it's a matter of taste, Skeleton. Squash gnocchi with browned butter and sage leaves is excellent. If you Google "squash gnocchi", you'll get plenty of hits. A similar flavor combination is used for filling ravioli.

I would think using a too-sweet or spicy sauce (cinnamon, nutmeg, etc.) would be less desirable.

[100folds]

Actual I worked with an italian chef and he had me sautee the Gnocci in a beurre noir sauce with a pich of nutmeg, then after carmelizing the gnocci, he ahd me deglaze with lemon juice. It was really good!

[Pete]

I do believe that when they refer to "older" potatoes, they do mean uncooked. As with many root vegetables, after potatoes have been dug they have a decent amount of sugars in them. As those potatoes sit, unused, the sugar slowly converts to starches making them more ideal for gnocchi. Potatoes can last quite a long time once dug. Heck, they were one of the foods still left, in the old days, at the end of a long hard winter, and before the spring crops were ready. The reason potatoes turn soft and sprout is that most people don't store their potatoes properly, in a cool, dark place. Your kitchen is not the ideal environment. As for the sugars turning to starches it can really be seen in corn on the cob. A just picked cob will be really sweet, but let that same cob (or one you picked the same day) sit for a few days and you will taste a huge difference in sweetness as the sugars turn to starch.