Outstanding Osmosis, aka Gorgeous Gnocchi

Concentration is how much stuff is in one location. High concentration, lots of stuff. Low concentration, not a lot of stuff. When a substance can move freely it will move around until the concentration is equal all over (equilibrium). Gases, liquids, and solutions do this, which is why something cooking in your kitchen can smell wonderful in your living room. When there is a barrier, sometimes only very small molecules can make it across. When the molecule that makes it across is water it is called osmosis.

This is how boiling pasta works. You put something with out water into water and osmosis makes the pasta fill with water. Heat makes the molecules beat the surface of the pasta more often filling the dry pasta with water faster.

This is my twist on pasta, potato gnocchi. I was introduced to it this year and have fallen it love. It is lighter and fluffier than any other pasta and really simple to make yourself. It is for these reasons I contend that happiness is fresh made gnocchi on a rainy day (like today!). This recipe is from my mother's cooking class.

Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients

2 large Russet potatoes

1 large egg, beaten

1 Tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

pinch nutmeg

1+ cup flour

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Pierce each potato several times with a fork. Bake directly on oven rack for 1 hour. As soon as the potatoes are cool enough to handle, scrape the pulp into a medium bowl and mash with a fork. Blend in butter. Mix in egg until smooth. Stir in salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Work in about half of the flour with your hands until the dough becomes thick. Knead in the remaining flour and perhaps some extra until the dough is firm and no longer sticky. Divide the dough into quarters. Roll into a rope ~24" long, cut the dough into pieces about 1/2" wide. Press onto and roll across the tongs of a fork. In a large pot of boiling water (1 gallon/1 lb pasta, 2 Tablespoons salt/gallon), cook gnocchi until it floats. Drain completely, and toss with sauce and serve immediately.