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Ingredients

For the sauce

Method

  • STEP 1

    Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/ gas 8. Tip a layer of rock salt onto a baking tray and sit the potatoes on top. Roast for 50 mins-1 hr or until tender when a cutlery knife is inserted. Leave to cool for 10 mins, then peel off the still warm skins. Pass the potatoes through a ricer or push through a sieve using a spoon onto a work surface, then leave to cool. Add the flour, egg and ½ tsp salt to the potato and gently bring everything together using your hands until you have a uniform dough – don’t overwork it. Divide the dough into four. Roll each piece into a long sausage on a lightly floured surface to around 2cm in diameter. Cut each one into 1.5-2cm nuggets. You can keep them like this or roll ridges onto to them with the back of a fork or a ridged pasta paddle. Set aside on a baking sheet dusted with semolina.

  • STEP 2

    For the sauce, blitz the canned tomatoes using a jug blender or hand blender. Heat the oil in a large pan over a low-medium heat, then add the onion and a pinch of salt and fry for 10-15 mins until softened and translucent. Tip in the garlic and chilli and cook for 1 min, then add the sugar, blitzed tomatoes and herbs, and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 20 mins, stirring regularly. Season to taste.

  • STEP 3

    Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the gnocchi in two batches and cook for 2-3 mins or until they bob to the surface. Drain the gnocchi in a colander, then toss in the pan with the tomato sauce. Spoon onto a large sharing plate, then top with the basil, grated cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. You can open-freeze the gnocchi on trays, then store in sandwich bags for up to three months, which can then be cooked for 3-5 mins from frozen.

Recipe tips: Twists

FRY IT

Once boiled, drain your gnocchi and fry them gently in butter until golden brown. Fry some sage leaves, too, and serve both with any leftover butter from the pan.

ADD HERBS

You can add finely chopped herbs, wild garlic or even wilted, drained and blitzed spinach to your gnocchi dough for a green twist. Just mix into the potato along with the flour, egg and salt in step 1.

BATCH COOK

Make a double batch of the pomodoro sauce and gnocchi and freeze half for another time. The sauce works well in other dishes like aubergine parmigiana, lasagne or polpette.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, August 2021

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