Preparing the potatoes
Peel your potatoes (if you can’t find 4 equally sized russet potatoes you can cut them into equal pieces so they cook at the same time) and put them into a pot of cold water. Bring the water to a boil and cook until you can just push a fork easily through the center. Drain off the water and let cool.
Once the potatoes have cooled, make sure they are completely dry, then mash them (or put them through a potato ricer) until smooth.
Step 1: Preparing the potatoes
- 4 equally sized russet potatoes
Step 2: Combining the ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- additional flour if your mix is sticky
Add the flour and salt to the potatoes and use your hands to mix them into a dough.
Once combined, your dough should be somewhat firm (make sure you can form it into a ball without it sticking to your fingers). If it does stick, add a little more flour to the mix until it no longer sticks to your fingers.
Step 3: Rolling out the dough
- 2 Tablespoons of flour for work surface
Move your dough to a floured working surface and quarter it putting 3/4 of it aside.
Take 1/4 of the dough and roll it into a rope that is about 3/4 of an inch tall, then cut the rope into 3/4 inch pieces.
Step 4: Adding the ridges
Use a fork (or a gnocchi board) and roll over the 3/4-inch sized pieces gently forming ridges on the edge. If possible, use enough pressure that the dough almost folds and forms a pocket on one side while the ridges are on the other side.
Repeat this process until you use all of your dough.
Step 5: Cooking the gnocchi
Bring a large pot of water to a boil (most people like to heavily salt the pasta water – so it tastes like sea water) and add enough of the gnocchi to the pot so you don’t overcrowd it.
Your gnocchi will be done once it floats to the top. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside while you cook the rest of the batch.
Step 6: Serving
Serve immediately with your favorite sauce.