Fresh Gnocchi

If I opened an Italian restaurant, this would be the menu: Tri-color handmade gnocchi, meatballs alla vodka, & garlic bread twists

3 ingredients•Prep: 30 mins•Cook: 1 hr

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March 24, 2026

I’ve never been to an Olive Garden. I only know about its offerings from what I’ve gathered from the ether:

Large, imposing, never-ending breadsticks
Some sort of cheese grater contraption that people try to steal (???)
I assume they have chicken alfredo (I feel like I see a video of this dish at least weekly on TikTok)

The only Olive Garden in Manhattan is in Times Square. So unless I lose a fantasy football competition, I won’t be journeying over there anytime soon.

For my second episode of “if I opened” (a series where I create restaurant-like menus in my apartment for no apparent reason), I’m creating my ideal Olive Garden dining experience at home… or maybe just any Italian restaurant … or if I want to be really pretentious a ~gnoccheria~.

Gnocchi is my dad’s and my all-time favorite pasta. I remember the first time I had fresh gnocchi. Unfortunately, it was in the Amalfi Coast, Italy. The location isn’t the unfortunate part. I just really don’t like that I had to type out the sentence: “my first plate of fresh gnocchi was in the Amalfi Coast”. Ironic pretension aside, the gnocchi was transcendent. And I’m actually still thinking about that plate of black truffle-adorned, perfectly pillowy gnocchi ever since.

Gnocchi also happens to be the only fresh pasta I make at home and don’t become infuriated over. I actually enjoy the process. Why? Because I can crank! them! out! Most fresh pasta takes eons to produce with the rollers, boards, chitarra, etc. Whereas gnocchi dough comes together in minutes. I don’t bother with making the ridges because I have better things to do with my time. I’m perfectly satisfied with the true pillow look to my homemade gnocchi.

The real reason why I wanted to make homemade gnocchi was so that I could attempt a tri-color gnocchi presentation. Pesto, cacio e pepe, and vodka sauce all on the same plate. Is this realistic for a homecook? Absolutely not. Does it look incredible? 100%. I give all the separate recipes below which are much easier to execute individually. Props to you if you try to do all 3 simultaneously like I did (your kitchen will be a mess fyi).

For the other parts of my menu, I knew I wanted to have meatballs alla vodka as well. It’s the same sauce as the gnocchi alla vodka. But to make it easier, I like to bake my meatballs, which saves me the hassle of searing and simmering the meatballs.

And finally, garlic bread twists for my literal twist on a breadstick. Not much more to say about that. Don’t they look incredible?

Let me know what other restaurant menus I should attempt at home. I’m thinking bagel shop with homemade gravlax next?

Con amore,

Ryan

Ingredients (3)

Russet potatoes(4 large)
All-purpose Flour(1 ½ cups)
plus more for dusting
Egg yolks(4)

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400 °F.
Prick several holes into your potatoes (4 large) with a fork, then bake on a baking sheet until completely knife tender, about 1 hour.
Remove potatoes from the oven. Working one at a time (the potatoes will be super hot, but it’s best you work quickly and don’t let them completely cool down), split a potato in half, use a spoon to scoop out its flesh, then use a potato ricer to evenly rice the potatoes onto a clean, large work surface. Rice the remaining potatoes. Discard the skins.
To your riced potatoes, sprinkle over about half the flour. Use a bench scraper to cut the flour into the potatoes.
Once worked in, add the egg yolks (4) and remaining flour. Continue to use the bench scraper to cut the ingredients into the potato until starting to combine. Then switch to your hands and knead the dough until it looks mostly homogenous and holds together. Don’t over knead.
Cover the “dough” with a large bowl. Heavily dust 2 half-baking sheets with more flour.
Cut off about 1/8 of the dough. Roll it into an even log using your fingertips about 1/2” thick. Then use your bench scraper and confidently cut the log into bite-sized gnocchi. Dust the gnocchi with more flour. Then gently transfer them with the bench scraper to a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining gnocchi dough, filling up the sheet pans with gnocchi.
At this point, you can cover the sheet trays with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Or you can freeze the sheet trays for about 1 hour, then transfer the gnocchi once frozen to freezer bags. Frozen gnocchi will last for 2 months and you can cook them from frozen.