Nonna's potato gnocchi with fresh tomato and basil sugo

Peel the potatoes, wash them and cut into smaller pieces so they boil faster.

Bring the water to a boil first, then add the potatoes so they spend less time in the water; cover with the lid.

Check with a fork: when it goes right through, they are ready. If they turn super soft and fluffy on top they are overdone and the gnocchi will be gluggy.

Crush the potatoes through the tool (or with a fork, which is slower), spread them out to cool and keep them from sticking together.

Once cooled, gather the potato together, make a well, add the egg and bring it together, then add the flour.

Collect the excess flour and fold it back in even when it looks crumbly, until nothing is sticky.

Knead briefly with a sprinkle of flour; do not overwork the dough. It should not be sticky or super soft, and inside it should look smooth and soft, like a doughnut.

Take a piece with both hands and roll it into a long, relatively thin snake.

Coat a tray with flour. Cut the snakes on an angle into little pillows, several strands at a time if you like, and set them on the floured tray.

Sauce: cut the carrot into thin slices then small pieces; slice and dice the onion.

Warm extra virgin olive oil, saute the carrot and onion briefly until the onion smells strong, then add the passata.

Add the celery, a generous amount of rock salt, and stir with a wooden spoon.

Cook until the oil comes to the top and the sauce is thick, approximately half an hour for one litre of passata.

Add the basil at the end, off the long cook, so it infuses the sauce rather than burning and disintegrating.

Bring salted water (rock salt, dissolved) to a boil, add the gnocchi, stir with a wooden spoon so none stick, and cover to return to the boil.

When the gnocchi rise they are pretty much cooked; boil 2 to 3 minutes and drain.

Ladle sauce into the bottom of a bowl, add the gnocchi and more sauce, keeping some back for the individual plates, and top with grated Parmigiano.