Chewy, tender and slightly sweet with a nutty chestnut flavor, chestnut gnocchi are an easy recipe to make with chestnut flour. The distinct flavor of chestnuts comes through in the finished gnocchi, making them perfect to pair with fall ingredients like mushrooms and game, or just brown butter, sage and a sprinkle of parmesan.

A pie plate filled with homemade chestnut gnocchi. — Homemade chestnut flour gnocchi.

If you've ever been intimidated by making gnocchi, don't be-these are quite different. There's no potato in this recipe at all as the gnocchi are made with a pasta dough instead of a potato dough.

A bag of Italian chestnut flour or farina de castagne.

Chef's Tips

This is a simple pasta dough with one catch: instead of whole eggs, you want to use only egg yolks here. Adding whole eggs can make the dough more difficult to handle and brittle as the recipe is made with half chestnut flour, which doesn't contain gluten. The egg yolks help ensure the dough stays supple, pliable, and easy to roll out.

How to Make Gnocchi with Chestnut Flour

This is the same as making fresh pasta dough, finished with the technique of making gnocchi. Combine the chestnut flour and all purpose or high gluten flour with the salt. Add the egg yolks and water and mix until the dough comes together.

Adding whole eggs to a stand mixer with chestnut flour to make gnocchi dough. — Adding whole egg yolks to the flours.

Mixing chestnut flour pasta dough with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer. — Mixing the dough with the paddle attachment.

Removing chestnut pasta dough from a stand mixer. — The dough will come together in a cohesive mass.

Remove the dough and knead for a minute or two on a lightly floured cutting board. Chestnut pasta dough doesn't need to be kneaded as long as other pasta doughs as the starch from the chestnut flour helps to bind it. Wrap the dough in cling film and rest for 30 minutes before forming the gnocchi.

Kneading chestnut flour pasta dough. — Gently kneading the dough for a minute.

A hand holding a finished disk of chestnut flour pasta dough. — The finished dough should be smooth and uniform.

Wrapping chestnut pasta dough in cling film. — Wrap the finished dough in cling film.

Cut ½ inch pieces of dough and roll them into a log. Cut the dough into ½ inch pieces and roll them off a gnocchi board, gently pressing with your thumb to help create the ridged gnocchi shape.

Rolling chestnut gnocchi dough into ropes. — Roll the dough into ropes.

Cutting a rope of chestnut gnocchi dough into pieces. — Cutting the rope of gnocchi dough into pieces.

Rolling chestnut gnocchi off of a gnocchi board. — Roll each gnoccho off a gnocchi board to make the ridged shape.

To cook the gnocchi, bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes until the gnocchi float and are tender and taste good to you.

Finished, formed chestnut gnocchi on a pie plate. — Finished gnocchi ready to cook.

Toss the gnocchi with a sauce and serve. Pictured below is chestnut gnocchi with goose confit, braised cabbage, brown butter and roasted chestnuts.

A close up image of a pan of chestnut flour gnocchi with goose confit, cabbage and roasted chestnuts. — Chestnut flour gnocchi with goose confit, cabbage and roasted chestnuts.

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Chestnut Flour Gnocchi

Homemade chestnut gnocchi made with Italian chestnut flour perfect for fall pasta sauces and other ingredients. Makes enough to serve 6 people as a modest entrée or lunch

Prep Time15

Cook Time2

Resting Time30

Course: Lunch, Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: chestnut flour pasta recipe

Servings: servings

Calories: 489kcal

Author: Alan Bergo

Cost: 5

Equipment

Pasta maker
Rolling Pin
Stand Mixer with paddle attachment
baking sheet

Ingredients

5 large egg yolks
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
½ lb chestnut flour
½ lb all purpose or high gluten flour
3 tablespoons cold water as needed

Instructions

Combine the flours and salt in a mixing bowl or a stand mixer.
Add the egg yolks and water and mix until the dough comes together. If you use a stand mixer you'll want to use the paddle attachment.
Remove the dough and knead for 30 seconds. It should be smooth, uniform and pliable.
wrap the dough in cling film and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
Cut ½ inch logs of dough and roll them into even, round ropes.
Cut each rope of dough into ½ inch pieces, then roll them off a gnocchi board or the tines of a fork, gently pressing down with your thumb to create the ridged gnocchi shape.
Toss the gnocchi lightly with flour to prevent sticking. From here they can be refrigerated for 3-4 days or frozen for a few months.
To cook the gnocchi, boil a pot of salted water, add the gnocchi and cook for 2-3 minutes until they all float. Taste a gnocchi and make sure it tastes good to you.
Remove the gnocchi to a pan and toss with a simple sauce like mushrooms and spinach, wild boar ragu, or just brown butter, sage and parmesan.

Notes

It's very important to use only Italian chestnut flour here. Homemade chestnut flour is coarse and will not work the same as the smooth commercially sold product. If you want to use homemade chestnut flour only use 30% of the total flour instead of 50% called for in the recipe.

Nutrition