Potato Gnocchi Handmade

Preparation Time: ~1.5 hours  |  Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 kg (~2 lbs) whole baking potatoes (russet potatoes work well)
• 2 beaten egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, iff you can get it "00" flour works great, it is very fine.
• Pinch of salt
• Serve with your favourite pasta sauce

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Spear the potatoes with a fork or skewer in a few places to vent moisture as the potatoes cook. Bake the potatoes in their skins until tender, about an hour.
2. Once cooked let the potatoes cool enough to handle and then peel off the skin.
3. Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer and into a large bowl. (If you don't have a potato rice you can mash the potatoes by hand and fluff them up a bit with a fork.) It is best to work with the potatoes when they are still a little warm.
4. Add the flour, egg and a pinch of salt. Mix by hand until you have a nice pliable ball of dough. Try not to over mix.
5. Dust a large cutting board with a little flour. Take the dough, a small piece at a time, and roll it out gently with your hands until you have rolls about 1.5-2 cm in diameter. Keep a light touch while you are rolling the dough. Gently roll the dough with your fingertips while while exerting the lightest pressure outwards, not down, to draw the dough out.
6. Cut the tubes of dough into pieces about one inch long. Using either a fork or gnocchi roller, roll it slightly to form an indentation (good for catching the sauce). 
7. *As the gnocchi are made, place them on flat baking pan, lightly dusted with flour or lined with wax paper.
8. Bring at least 5 litres of salted water to a boil in a saucepan. Gently drop the gnocchi, a few at a time, into the water. As soon as they rise to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon, draining well. Continue cooking all the gnocchi in the same manner.
9. As soon as all the gnocchi are ready, pour your favourite pasta sauce over them and sprinkle with the parsley. Serve immediately.

Tips & Alternatives

• All purpose flour is ok, and you can also use an equal mix of all purpose flour and semolina for a slightly different texture.
• Once in the baking pan you can freeze the gnocchi to use later. Freeze them first on the floured or lined tray, and once frozen you can put them into a freezer bag for easy storage.To cook, just put the frozen gnocchi into the simmering water and continue at step 8 above.