Ingredients

• 4 (750g) desiree potatoes, unpeeled
• 1 1/3 cups (200g) plain flour, plus a little extra

Method

• Step 1 Place potatoes in a saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil over high heat. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until just tender when tested with a skewer (don't test too much as potatoes will become waterlogged). Drain well. Set aside until just cool enough to handle. While still hot, peel by hand and discard skins. Using a potato ricer or mouli (French rotary grater), puree potatoes into a bowl. Season to taste with salt. Cool slightly.
• Step 2 Add flour to potatoes then use your hands to knead briefly until a soft dough forms. If mixture is still sticky, add a little more flour (the amount of flour added is crucial - too much flour will make the cooked gnocchi heavy and tough, while too little flour will cause gnocchi to disintegrate during cooking). Turn dough on to a lightly floured surface.
• Step 3 Cut dough into 4 equal-sized pieces. Using your hands, gently roll each piece out to form a log about 2cm wide. Using a lightly floured knife, cut each log into 1.5cm-long pieces.
• Step 4 Roll each ball of gnocchi over the tines of a lightly-floured fork, pressing gently with your index finger or thumb underneath as you go, to form a dent in the back of each one and fork marks on the other side (this creates a textured surface, helping sauces to cling to cooked gnocchi).
• Step 5 Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add 1/4 of the gnocchi. As they cook, gnocchi will rise to the surface of the water. Continue cooking gnocchi at the surface for about 10 seconds then remove with a large slotted spoon and drain well. Repeat with remaining gnocchi. Serve immediately, tossed together with your favourite sauce.