Potato Gnocchi
Master Recipe

To insure that gnocchi are the right texture, bring a small saucepan of water to simmer while mixing the dought. Roll a small piece of the dough into the rope shape. Cut off a small piec or two from the rope, shape them into gnocchi, then drop them into the simmering water. If the gnocchi are too mushy, put the dough rope back into the poato mixture and add in another tablespoon or tow of flour. It is better to take the time to test one or two gnocchi than to ruin the whole batch. Aslo, be careful not to overwork or overknead the dough, you simply want to incorporate the flur into the potatoes. Avoid cooking the ghnocchi at a rolling oil since violently churning water makes it difficult to determine when the gnocchi are floating. Even gently boiling gnocchi may bob temporarily to the surface, but don’t lift them our till they float.

2 pounds russet or baking potatoes, washed
1 1/4 cups flour , plus more as needed
1-teaspoon salt, plus more for cooking liquid

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake potatoes until a metal skewer slides easily through them, 45 minutes to 1 your, depending on size.

2. Hold potato with a pot holder or kitchen towel and peel it with a vegetable peeler or paring knife. Rice peeled potato into a large bowl. Peel and rice remaining potatoes. Cool until potatoes are no longer hot, about 15 minutes.

3. Sprinkle 1 1/4 cups flour and 1 tsp salt over warm potatoes. Using your hands, work mixture into a soft, smooth dough. If dough is sticky, add more flour as needed up to 1 1/2 cups total.

4. Roll about one-quarter of dough into a long 3/4 inch thick rope. If rope won’t hold together, return it to bowl with remaining dough and work in more flour as needed. Repeat until all the dough is rolled.
5. Cut rope of dough into 1/4 inch lengths. Using butter paddle or fork in one hand, press each piece of cut dough against ridged surface with index finger to make an indentation in center. Roll dough down and off ridges to allow it to drop to work surface.

6. Gnocchi can be placed on baking sheet in a single layer and refrigerated for several hours or frozen then transferred to a plastic bag or container and stored.

7. Bring 4 quarts of water to low boil in large pot. Add 2 Tbs. Of salt or to taste. Add about 1/3 of the gnocchi and cook until they float. (1 1/2 to 2 minutes or maybe 3 if they are frozen) Remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon and transfer to a warm shallow serving plate or bowl. Repeat.