Gnocchi is one of life’s truly great pleasures. My last meal on earth would be salted butter and crusty bread, but if there was no butter, or bread, a warm bowl of gnocchi would come a close second. 

Years ago, my husband and I took a trip to Rome for the first time. In the words of Bryan Adams, we were young, wild and free (read: childless). An Italian friend recommended staying in the neighbourhood of Trastavere. We have since visited Trastavere many many times. The mark of a good holiday destination is always how badly I end up insisting to my husband that we must buy wildly unaffordable property there. This particular part of Rome sits very high on that list.

Trastavere is a perpetually enchanting area. The cobbled streets, with building exteriors and trattoria entrances adorned with climbing bougainvillea, ivy, and jasmine creepers in full bloom, fantastic people watching and the street art providing a further feast for the eyes. One back street featuring a mural looking suspiciously like Banksy himself may have passed by. Right at the heart of this atmospheric neighbourhood is the Piazza di Santa Maria, where dining opportunities abound with coveted outdoor seating for prime views of the central fountain in front of the church of Santa Maria, the fountain being one of the oldest monumental fountains in Rome. I have a fond memory buying a crepe with Nutella and bananas on said square, having an ‘eat-pray-love’ moment scoffing it, whilst sitting on the steps below the fountain watching the world go by. Chocolate dripping everywhere because you can’t clean anything with those useless little wax-like paper napkins that are so popular.

We wondered down one of the many narrow streets on our first night, and after about five aperitivo’s – because you can’t just stop at one place, with every trattoria you pass by a picture-perfect postcard printers dream. We eventually decided on dinner at a particularly quaint establishment, the name of which still escapes me (I could walk you there, just can’t remember the name) and proceeded to have a truly memorable bowl of gnocchi ai quattro formaggi.

We have since been back, and it was rather disappointingly not as good as the first time. The gnocchi being a little gummier than what we remember. The dreaded inconsistent consistency! Or possibly dream vacation memory bias from the over excitement of it being our first trip. Whatever it was, it led me on a mission to make my own gnocchi at home.

After a lot of research and digging, I eventually found a recipe from Deb Perelman’s: The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. A fantastic book and equally amazing blog (must follow) with wonderful recipes! I have followed her gnocchi recipe for years now and they always turn out beautifully. Her recipe is gnocchi with a tomato broth, I just use the gnocchi recipe and make my own four-cheese sauce, topped with a big handful of rocket to cut the richness of the sauce.

I don’t like pan frying my gnocchi – which gives it the crisp outer layer, I prefer gnocchi that is just boiled. Soft little potato pillows laying snugly in its sauce. I love creamy mushroom, I love pomodoro, but nothing beats the pure indulgence of quattro formaggi (4 cheese sauce).

Top tip: you must use potatoes that you have baked, not boiled potatoes. Gummy gnocchi is caused by gluten formation, the key being to remove as much moisture from the potatoes as you can. You can’t add too much flour, nor overwork the dough. (I promise, it’s a lot more fun than this is starting to sound). Even the Italian couple who live in the building next door to us were impressed when we told them we make our own gnocchi. Mi scusi! no store-bought dumplings here! If you are up for a bit of extra work, it is well worth the effort.

Recipe for Gnocchi ai quattro formaggi can be found in the RECIPE section.