Eggless potato gnocchi with brown butter sage sauce

Set about 1,000 g russet potatoes on a wire rack over a baking sheet and prick them with a fork so the steam can escape.

Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven until fork tender in the centre, 45 to 60 minutes depending on size.

Halve the baked potatoes on the cutting board, let the steam escape, and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

Rice the hot potato onto the work surface in a thin layer (or mash with a fork, working it as little as possible) and let cool 3 to 5 minutes for more steam to escape.

Sprinkle with salt and work it through with a bench scraper, tasting until it tastes good.

For a second flavoured batch, add salt, plenty of fresh cracked pepper, freshly grated nutmeg, fresh thyme leaves and Parmesan, worked in the same way.

Gently dust flour over the potatoes through a fine mesh sieve, only enough to hold it together.

Work the dough with the bench scraper just until uniform and tender; do not knead or overwork it, which makes the gnocchi tough, though under-mixing lets them come apart in the water.

Form a rough log, flour the surface and top, cut off a disc and roll it into a long snake; repeat with the rest.

Cut the snakes into 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces with the bench scraper; leave as is, roll off the back of fork tines, or roll into little balls.

Cook the same day; they keep in the fridge up to 8 hours, or freeze them on the baking sheet, bag them and boil from frozen.

Boil a pot of water with a couple of large pinches of salt and set a bowl of ice water aside.

Boil the gnocchi until they rise to the surface and bounce back slightly when squeezed, starting with one or two to test.

Move them to the ice bath for about 30 seconds and drain on dry paper towels; skip the ice bath if serving straight away with something like tomato sauce.

Melt a couple tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat, add a bunch of sage leaves and two whole garlic cloves, and cook until the butter just starts to brown.

Toss in the cooked gnocchi and stir to crisp them, add a couple hunks of cheese and Parmesan on top, and broil about a minute to crisp.