How To Keep Homemade Gnocchi Fresh In The Fridge

Making your own gnocchi from scratch doesn't require too many ingredients or skill. It does, however, require some extra maintenance to make sure the pasta doesn't dry out. After all, whether you're making a batch of gnocchi a la Parisienne or creamy chicken gnocchi, you want your pasta to stay soft.

If you're making homemade gnocchi — but not cooking it all right away — keep your pasta fresh with a sprinkle of flour. Simply line up all of your shaped gnocchi pasta on a tray and after adding a dusting of flour — semolina does the job for most eggless pasta — cover the entire tray with a cloth. If you're planning to enjoy your gnocchi within a couple of days, you'll want to store the whole concoction in your refrigerator. If you don't have any immediate use for it, opt for the freezer instead.

Put some extra effort into covering your gnocchi, and you'll have more time to eat it than you may think. Gnocchi, like most homemade pasta, tends to firm up fairly quickly in the fridge. While you'd ideally use your pasta right after making it, this immediacy isn't always possible. Luckily, you have a couple of days for maintaining your gnocchi's freshness — so long as you cover the pasta with flour and a cloth.

If you want to buy yourself a little more time, you can try a different storage technique. Keep your shaped gnocchi on a tray and place the whole thing in the freezer. Once your individual gnocchi balls have frozen, you can then add them to a freezer bag without fear of them sticking together. Frozen in a sealed bag, your gnocchi should stay fresh and ready to thaw for two to three months. That's plenty of time to whip up a rich, savory, and Italy-inspired dish, especially since you've already done the grunt work of shaping your gnocchi.