One of the dishes that my clients really love, and are always asking for the recipe, is potato gnocchi. There are so many differing ways to serve these beautifully delicate little pillows of potato. Simply with brown butter, sage and parmesan or with gorgonzola, or even crab and other seafoods. It is quite the vehicle for other foods and flavours.

Good potato gnocchi isn’t about a recipe its about a technique, so the below is more of a guide than a recipe. What follows are what I think are the rules of gnocchi, having said that every chef is different and has a different method. This is what works for myself.

Use the right potatoes: medium sized floury ones are best. I used red skinned desire as they are light and fluffy when cooked. Avoid waxy potatoes.
Cook in the skins and then peel, this prevents excess moisture in the potato.
Work with the potato when hot, if it cools it will become gluey.
Add flour little by little and test by dropping in boiling water. This stops you add too much flour which makes the gnocchi hard.

Method

Get a couple of medium sized pink skinned potatoes. Boil them skin on in salted water until they are tender. Drain and skin them (holding them in a dry tea towel)

Mash the potatoes on to a clean bench while they are hot, don’t let them cool. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle on a couple of table spoons of grated parmesan cheese. Make a well in the centre and add one egg yolk and mix the lot together.

Now get some plain flour maybe around 50 to 100g for two large potatoes. Mix in the flour but don’t over work. The dough should be firm but not hard. If you want to test it drop a small piece in boiling water and taste it. If it falls a part add a little more flour. Roll into a long sausage and cut in to centre metre pieces. Dust lightly in flour and put aside. Best to use straight away but if you have to store, cover with a damp cloth, no plastic (makes them sweat)

Cook them in a large pot of boiling salted water, when they float (a minute or two) they are ready.

Place a little butter (125g) in a pan and heat, the butter should foam and spit. When golden verging on dark brown add some sage leaves. Throw in some cooked gnocchi and toss though the butter. Serve on a warm plate with ground parmesan cheese.

Or

In a small pan gently warm a few tablespoons of cream with a little water. When warm drop in small pieces of gorgonzola, I like the dolce for this dish if I want it a little sweeter but picante has a touch more sharpness. Add as much or as little cheese as you like to get the flavour you want. Try not to boil it. When it is the consistency of cream drop in the gnocchi, some chopped chives and black pepper. Serve on a warm plate with a sprinkle of roasted and chopped walnuts and grated parmesan cheese.