I made it once, when I took a class at culinary school, and I have bought it premade from Publlix.

This is the recipe I've prepared twice and everyone gobbled it up: Gnocchi gargonzola chicken

I love it and have made it many times. There are lots of recipes but I use Mario Batali's from the Food Network..]

Ingredients

* 3 pounds russet potatoes
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 egg, extra large
* 1 pinch salt
* 1/2 cup canola oil

Directions

Boil the whole potatoes until they are soft (about 45 minutes). While still warm, peel and pass through vegetable mill onto clean pasta board.

Set 6 quarts of water to boil in a large spaghetti pot. Set up ice bath with 6 cups ice and 6 cups water near boiling water.

Make well in center of potatoes and sprinkle all over with flour, using all the flour. Place egg and salt in center of well and using a fork, stir into flour and potatoes, just like making normal pasta. Once egg is mixed in, bring dough together, kneading gently until a ball is formed. Knead gently another 4 minutes until ball is dry to touch.

Roll baseball-sized ball of dough into 3/4-inch diameter dowels and cut dowels into 1-inch long pieces. Flick pieces off of fork or concave side of cheese grater until dowel is finished. Drop these pieces into boiling water and cook until they float (about 1 minute). Meanwhile, continue with remaining dough, forming dowels, cutting into 1-inch pieces and flicking off of fork. As gnocchi float to top of boiling water, remove them to ice bath. Continue until all have been cooled off. Let sit several minutes in bath and drain from ice and water. Toss with 1/2 cup canola oil and store covered in refrigerator up to 48 hours until ready to serve.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gnocchi

I forgot to say that there are many ways to use them and I suggest you google but they are wonderful with a garlic and butter sauce, a browned butter sauce...Just think of them as a little dumpling noodle....

Here are two of Mario's butter sauces......

Here is a link that might be useful: Gnocchi sauces

Joann, guests from Croatia made it for us when here last summer, seemed to be more of a 'Saturday lunch' dish for them at home. No precise recipe, more by feel. Potatoes (hand mashed), an egg, flour, sprinkle of salt - kind of labor intensive and we were told it must be made fresh, not to try to hold it. My experience with the packaged types would support that, too heavy :)

The potato cooking water was saved to then boil the gnocchi in later. Served with a fresh tomato sauce and the second batch with a creamy cheese sauce, Parmesan generously added over top to both. I haven't tried it myself but still plan to, will see if I have the right 'feel' for the kneading and knowing if I have enough flour in.

Joann, I love it but am not sure what the Big Lots version would be like. If you want to try it out I encourage you not to judge gnocchi by that, perhaps picking it up from an Italian deli or in the fresh or frozen food section of your grocers. I could be dead wrong and what you found at Big Lots could be wonderful! LOL!!

Basically, Gnocchi are just Cavatelli with mashed potatoes added to the dough.

Years ago, I bought a cavatelli/gnocchi cutter. It looks like the old meat grinders that you used to screw onto a table. I just form the dough into a rope, and feed it into the cutter.

I made gnocchi last night. Batali's recipe works, but I find it a bit flour heavy.

My favorite way to sauce them is to cook a bunch of green beans for 3 minutes in the salted water, then add the gnocchi, cook for another minute or so. Transfer both to a skillet with a couple of tablespoons melted butter in it, then add some pesto and a bit of the cooking water to make a sauce.

Grate some good parm or romano (NOT Kraft) cheese over the top.

My husband, who is one-half Italian, loves gnocchi. His Grandmother and aunt made it best, then his own Mom. I asked her to show me how to make it for him. She said the most important part is to make long strips, slice them diagonally into one-inch pieces, then press your thumb in to make a dent to hold the sauce. And only boil them until they float. Don't overcook.

Time I made gnocchi, at the cullinard school, we didn't use gadgets, just our hands to form and then a cutter to cut them into 1 inch sizes. Piece of cake, BUT times I've made this recipe, I bought the premade from Publix and just as good, My Opinion ONLY!

Sandra Lee's Gnocchi gargonzola chicken **This is my changed rendition
1 pound potato gnocchi
1 pkg Knorr's three cheese sauce mix
2 cups milk
3 garlic cloves jarred crushed not minced
6 ounces Gorgonzola crumbles
1 store-bought roasted chicken (approximately 2 pounds), shredded
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

To a large pot of boiling salted water, add gnocchi and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until they float to the surface. Drain and return to pot; cover to keep warm.
In a medium saucepan, over medium-high heat, whisk together white sauce mix and milk. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer and add minced garlic and Gorgonzola crumbles. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes as sauce thickens; remove from heat.

Add shredded chicken to gnocchi. Pour sauce over warm gnocchi and chicken, and toss to combine. Serve warm and garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

All of the above sound interesting!

We love gnocchi. Generally we order it from a local Italian restaurant or buy from a little local, family-owned pasta place in town.

Best gnocchi I've ever had, though, were when we had dinner at Patrick O'Connell's Inn at Little Washington. They were as light as an angel's sigh--as I told the assistant chef who made them that day. Luckily, I found the recipe in his cookbook (Refined American Cousine). I figured, though, that mine wouldn't be nearly as light. I'd never made them before, and sometimes, those recipes..... well, it turned out, that recipe is perfect. If you decide to make your own, I'd highly recommend trying Patrick's recipe, it's a real winner.

As to how to use them? You can serve with your favorite pasta sauce, or pesto, or garlic and oil--whatever you normally would enjoy on pasta.