Bella’s potato gnocchi with burned butter and sage (gnocchi di patate al burro e salvia)

• Preparation time:

• Cooking time:

Ingredients

For the gnocchi:
• 700g floury potatoes
• 150g (1 cup) plain flour
for the sauce:
• ½ cup best quality organic butter
• 1 bunch sage
to finish:
• aged parmigiano reggiano, freshly grated

Method

1. Wrap unpeeled potatoes in aluminium foil and bake in a 180C oven until tender (about an hour, but this depends on the size of the potatoes).
2. Once potatoes are just cool enough to handle (you can use rubber gloves to protect your hands if they’re too hot), peel and pass the flesh through a potato ricer into a large bowl. Add about 75% of the flour and some salt, mix gently, tossing the little bits of riced potato through the flour. Then press together to form a dough. If the dough feels too soft (this depends on the water content of the potato, generally the less flour you use the fluffier the gnocchi), add a little more flour.
3. Allow the dough to cool slightly, then cut off ¼ at a time and roll into a 2cm thick log on a floured surface. Using a floured knife, cut the log into 1 inch nuggets.
4. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to the boil. Cook gnocchi, without overcrowding the pot, until they float to the surface. Remove using a slotted spoon.
5. In the meantime, heat butter in a large non stick pan. Once hot, add cooked gnocchi and allow them to caramelise slightly on one side. Gently turn them over and add sage to the pan. Allow them to caramelise lightly on the other side and the butter to brown.
6. Serve hot with a grating of parmigiano reggiano and a grinding of black pepper.

Notes