Equipment: Digital scale (preferred,) Large mixing bowl, Baking sheet, Heavy spoon, Measure cups and spoons, Unbleached parchment, Pastry cutter or sharp knife, Fork, Slotted spoon

Before You Dive In – Prep: Please read!

• Cook, peel and mash potatoes, this can be done several days prior – store covered in refrigerator and bring to room temp before using (see Step 1 below)
• Remove ricotta from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes prior to making gnocchi (preferred)
• Bring egg to room temperature (preferred)
• Line a baking sheet with unbleached parchment
• If eating right away, fill a large pot with water and liberally add salt to gently boil the gnocchi in

Make gnocchi!

Step 1: Wash and place 3 medium Yukon Gold potatoes into a pot of water. Cover with 2″ (5 cm) of water. Bring the water to a gentle boil and cook until potatoes are tender. You should easily be able to pierce them with a fork. Drain the water and place potatoes in a colander until cool enough to touch. Peel each potato and place in a medium bowl. Mash until smooth, (no major chunks of potato,) with a potato masher, fork or ricer. Set aside until completely cool. Reserve 341g (about 1 1/2 C packed) plain mashed potatoes. Save the rest for another meal if you have leftovers.

Step 2: Combine the cooled and reserved mashed potatoes, flour, ricotta, egg, Parmesan, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir with a heavy spoon to completely blend or use your hands.

Step 3: Turn the dough out onto a piece of unbleached parchment and roll into a log. If the log is a bit sticky, lightly flour the surface of the parchment. It does not matter how fat or long the log is. Cut off a hunk and lay it on a separate flat surface such as your counter or cutting board. Wrap the parchment around the log to prevent it from drying out and set it aside.

Step 4: Roll out the hunk of dough into a rope about 1″ (2.5 cm) in diameter. You may only need to sprinkle the surface with flour if the dough is sticky to roll out, but that has not been our experience. If your rope gets too long to manage, break it off in the middle and work in batches.

Step 5: Cut bite sized, 3/4″ pieces of gnocchi (2 cm). Place each piece of gnocchi on to the parchment lined baking sheet in a single layer. Optional: use a fork to make grooves in the gnocchi. Hold a fork right side up on the surface of your cutting board. Place a piece of dough on the tines. Press your thumb gently into the middle of the dough and gently roll forward. The gnocchi will roll off the fork. See photos in blog above.

If you are eating right away, bring a large pot of water generously seasoned with salt to a gentle boil. Work in batches. Drop two handfuls of gnocchi into the water. They will immediately sink and resurface. As soon as they pop up to the surface, use a slotted spoon to drop them into sauce or a colander to rinse and drain before adding to sauce. Enjoy immediately.

If you are freezing, cover the completed sheet of uncooked gnocchi with cling or foil and place into the freezer. Freeze for a minimum of 2 hours. Place frozen gnocchi in a freezer safe container for up to a month. To reheat, add to gently boiling, salted water and cook until gnocchi pops up to the surface, (about 1-2 minutes). Remove, add to sauce or rinse quickly and drain in a colander before adding to sauce. Eat immediately.

Enjoy!