Potato Gnocchi by John Quilter

Ingredients

750g potatoes
100g rock salt
2 eggs
Sea Salt
Pepper
1/4tsp nutmeg whole
150g flour (some extra for rolling)

Garnish

½ bunch Sage
75g butter
70g toasted pine kernels
100g pecorino

Equipment

Potato ricer

Method

Put the rock salt onto a baking tray and place the potatoes on top. Drop in the preheated oven at 200° C CircoTherm® for an hour to cook and to draw out moisture. They’re ready when you can put a knife through.

Once cooked, allow to cool a little, then scoop out the potato and mash using a ricer.

While the potato is still warm turn it out into a large tray and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Next, make a well in the middle, whisk 2 egg yolks into the middle and incorporate using your hand in a claw shape with a circular movement. Once done, sieve 150g 00 flour gradually into the potato and egg mixture. The key here is to go slow and not over work the dough, avoiding activating the gluten too much which will make the dough tough.

As it clumps together turn it out on to the work top and need into a smooth dough, its ready when it stops sticking to your hands or the surface. The dough is light and fluffy and has a bit of a spring in it. Next, shape it into a large lozenge.

Sprinkle just enough flour onto the surface, not too much, as you don’t want to dry the dough out. Cut wedges out of dough and roll into strips, rolling from the centre out to the edges.

Slice the strips into individual dumplings and finely dust with flour. Next, run the little dumplings along a fork to create ridges. These give the gnocchi their distinctive shape and allowing sauce to hold onto them.

Melt the butter in a high-sided sauté pan, once the butter is bubbling, throw in the sage leaves and allow to crackle and pop. At the same time, blanch the gnocchi in salted simmering water. They are cooked when they float to the top. Drain and add to the sage butter

Serve immediately and garnish with the pine nuts and some Tuscan pecorino.