Potato week, part III

No Potato Week could be complete without putting potatoes to their highest and best use, at least as far as our family is concerned. Potato Gnocchi may be everyone's favorite meal, or close to it. It's a fun family project, too. While Cassie was out with Mom at yet another one of her Potato Week musical functions, Brad and I made the gnocchi. I made the dough, rolled it out into ropes, and then cut off the individual pieces. Brad took over from there, forming the gnocchi by rolling them off a grooved butter paddle, which is perfect for that job (a fork works fine, too). Brad also retrieved the cooked gnocchi from the water with a spider and placed them lovingly into the sauce.

These are a bit of work, but it goes a lot faster with two people, and it's so worth it. I eat the gnocchi one by one, savoring every last bite, then mop up the tasty sauce with some crusty bread. There is no more perfect meal.

Potato Gnocchi with Sage Butter and Parmesan

Adapted from the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (2011)

This recipe takes all of the guesswork out of making gnocchi by weighing the potatoes after you rice them. It's finicky but it produces a consistent result, and you know how much I love weighing things in the kitchen. You can also serve these with pesto or Marcella Hazan's Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter, which she says is "an unsurpassed sauce for Potato Gnocchi." Marcella Hazan's sauce cooks for as much as 45 minutes, so you'll need to start that around when you begin cooking the potatoes.

2 pounds russet potatoes
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 ounces (¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
1 teaspoon fine sea salt + 1 tablespoon
2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 teaspoons minced fresh sage
2 ounces (½ cup) grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for passing 

    1. Place racks in the lowest and second-lowest positions in the oven; heat to 450 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with foil and place it on the bottom rack.
    2. Poke all over each potato 8 to 10 times with a paring knife. Place the potatoes on a plate and microwave until slightly softened at the ends, about 10 minutes flipping the potatoes and rotating the plate after 5 minutes. Move the potatoes directly onto the second-lowest oven rack (over the foil-lined baking sheet to catch any drips). Bake until a long skewer slides easily all the way through the potatoes and they yield to gentle pressure, 18 to 20 minutes.
    3. Carefully peel the hot potatoes with a paring knife. Pass the potatoes through a ricer or food mill fitted with the medium-holed disk onto a large baking sheet. Spread the potato pieces out and let them cool for about 5 minutes.
    4. Weigh 1 pound (454 grams) of the warm potatoes into a large bowl. (There will be some potato left over. Combine the extra potato with some melted butter, season with salt and pepper, and you have a little treat for the chef.) Stir the beaten egg into the potatoes with a fork or pastry fork until just combined. Sprinkle the flour and 1 teaspoon salt over the potatoes. Use the fork to combine the ingredients until no big streaks of flour remain, then use your hands to press the mixture into a rough ball. Transfer the ball to a lightly floured work surface, and knead gently until the dough is smooth but a little bit sticky. Dust the work surface with a little more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
    5. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large stockpot.
    6. Meanwhile, have ready 2 more baking sheets or large serving dishes lined with parchment or wax paper and dusted with flour. Cut the dough into 8 pieces—a bench scraper works well for this job, but a knife is fine, too. Dust the work surface lightly with flour again. Gently roll a piece of dough into a ½-inch-thick rope, dusting with flour as needed to prevent sticking. I've found that if you start with your fingers together, then spread them out slowly as you're rolling, it helps roll the dough out quickly and evenly. Transfer the rope to a cutting board and cut it into ¾-inch lengths with a sharp paring knife. Use your thumb to roll each length off the tines of a fork (or a grooved butter paddle) onto the prepared baking sheets. You're trying to make little pillows of dough with a small indent (from your thumb) on one side (to help with even cooking) and grooves on the other side (to hold the sauce). If the dough pieces start to stick at any point, flour your thumb and/or the fork. Repeat until you've made gnocchi out of all the dough.
    7. Melt the butter in a 9- or 10-inch skillet (light-colored, not nonstick) over medium heat. When the butter starts to foam and sizzle, swirl it around the pan until it’s a little browned and smells nutty, about 2 minutes. Stir in the sage and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
    8. When the water boils, add the remaining tablespoon of salt and stir to dissolve. Transfer half the gnocchi to the pot, and cook until 30 seconds after all the gnocchi float to the top. Work quickly so the gnocchi don't overcook, but try to drain them well—a large spider is perfect for this job, but you can make do with a slotted spoon. Transfer the cooked gnocchi to a warm serving platter. Spoon over half of the sage butter and sprinkle with half of the Parmesan. Repeat with the remaining gnocchi, sage butter, and Parmesan. Gently toss everything together. Serve promptly, passing more Parmesan at the table. Serves 3, or 4 if you supplement with lots of crusty bread to mop up the sauce.