Perfect Gnocchi
Francesca's top tips for gnocchi:
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Use a starchy potato like desiree potatoes
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Boil potatoes in their skins
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Use a potato ricer to mash them (do not use a food processor)
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You don't need egg, only potato and flour
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Cook gnocchi once they are shaped-because you don't want to add too much flour
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1 kilo desiree potatoes
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350g Italian 00 flour plus extra for the board
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Your favourite sauce to serve it with (pesto, simple tomato, browned butter & sage, whatever takes your fancy)
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You will also need a knife or pastry cutter and a ridged gnocchi board or fork
Step 1 - Boil the potatoes in their skins until soft. While the potatoes are still hot, take a potato ricer and push the whole potatoes through it making mashed potato. Discard the skins. Allow to cool completely - you can spread the mashed potato out onto a clean surface to facilitate cooling.
Step 2 - Put a very large pot of water onto boil as you want to cook the gnocchi straight away. Add the flour to the potato mixture and mix together until you get a cohesive dough. Take the dough and pinch off handfuls and roll it out into a log shape. If this is long, cut it in half or you can line up several logs together (making sure to flour them lightly on the outside so that they don't stick.
Step 3 - Cut them into small pieces. Using the gnocchi board, roll the pieces onto the ridged gnocchi board to get the gnocchi pattern. You can be quite firm with them and "flick" them off the board. You actually flatten them on the board and they curl around so that they aren't completely solid and have a cavity in the back of the ridge (see image below). They look a little like ears! If you use a fork, simply press the fork tines gently into the gnocchi pillows.
Top: pressing down firmly on the board; middle flipping the pieces; bottom, Francesca's advanced moves using a fork on her thumb!
Step 4 - Start to heat your sauce in a separate pan. Place the gnocchi in the boiling water and they're done once they float to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in the sauce and bathe the gnocchi in sauce and serve immediately. You can also place the cooked gnocchi in a lightly oiled baking dish and toss so that they don't stick together.