Mom Hammond’s Gnocchi
3 pounds Russet Potatoes
2 ½ – 3 cups Flour
1 Extra Large Egg
1 teaspoons Fine Sea SaltBring a large pot of water to a boil. Don’t season it. Cook the potatoes until tender, but firm (read, “not mush!”). Cool and add a “scant” tsp of salt. Use a potato ricer or mash well. Potatoes should not be lumpy.
Flour a pasta board or your counter. Make a ring with the mash potatos then surround it with a ring of flour. Leave the center open, like you’re making a “well” (think “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” with the mountain hollowed out!).
Add a slightly beaten egg to the center of the “well.” (in that open space you’ve left).
Gradually incorporate these ingredients well by gradually “pulling” these ingredients together, kneading until a round ball of dough is formed. You want it to be bread dough like – like a giant ball of playdough! Using floured hands take a small amount of dough (maybe golf ball sized) and roll them out to form long ropes (don’t roll too thin, should be about 1/2″ around).
Cut diagonally into 1″ pieces. Using your thumb, press to curve gnocchi slightly or you may use a fork’s tines to add lines to gnocchi. The finished gnocchi should have a slightly dry consistency.
Let them sit for about a half hour.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Gently drop gnocchi in a few at a time.
Let them cook 3 – 5 minutes. They will let you know they are done by floating to the top. Drain and serve with your favorite pasta or pesto sauce.
Originally published in “Gnocchi … Family Style (Which Means Sans Recipe)“
