Potato gnocchi

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.

2. Bake the potatoes for 40–60 minutes until soft and cooked through. Once cooked and still hot, cut in half and scoop out the soft inside with a spoon, then push the potato through a fine sieve. Weigh out 250g/9oz of this baked potato mash and place onto a clean surface.

3. While still hot, add the Parmesan along with plenty of salt and pepper and mix. Make a well in the centre of this mixture and crack the egg into the middle. Use your hand to combine everything well.

4. Once fully combined, add in half the flour to start forming a dough. When it starts to come together, add in the remaining flour. As soon as the dough is no longer sticky, stop kneading.

5. Take a quarter of the dough and put the rest under a clean tea towel or cling film so it doesn’t dry out. Gently roll the dough into a long even-shaped sausage on a lightly dusted work surface, then use a sharp knife to cut even-sized pillows of soft gnocchi, about 2.5cm/1in long. You can leave them like this or roll the gnocchi down the back of a fork to make ridges. Put the shaped gnocchi onto a floured board as you work.

6. Continue this process with the rest of the dough, keeping the dough and gnocchi pieces covered when not using to prevent them from drying or sticking.

7. When you’re ready to cook the gnocchi, fill a large deep saucepan with salted water and bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling, add the gnocchi and cook for around 1–2 minutes over a high heat – they are ready when they float to the top.

8. Drain the gnocchi and serve as you like. I like to serve them with a simple tomato and basil sauce, but you could eat with pesto, Parmesan and pepper or even a ragu. You can also fry them off after boiling for a crunchy texture.