Potato gnocchi

Peel the potatoes into a large bowl.

Cut the potatoes roughly, not too thick so they cook evenly; give them a quick wash and tip the water out without leaving them soaking.

Lower the potatoes into a pot of boiling water with a hand strainer; boil with the lid on about 10 minutes, checking with a fork at eight or nine minutes; the lid can come off for the last couple of minutes.

They are ready when a fork splits one easily down the middle; not hard (undercooked) and not foamy (one to two minutes overcooked).

Drain quickly and well so the potatoes keep no water.

Rice the potatoes through a vegetable mill while still warm, scraping off what sticks underneath.

Move the riced potato around until it has cooled to just warm, not hot.

Bring the potato together, make a well and crack in the egg; beat it with a hand or a fork and mix it through the potato with one hand.

Add all 300 g of flour at once and squash it through the potato with both hands.

Knead gently, massaging rather than pressing hard, picking up the crumbs; scrape up anything stuck to the bench.

When it is a little sticky but leaves nothing on your finger, sprinkle flour all over, top and underneath, and roll back and forth until smooth.

Test by cutting a portion with a pastry cutter: if it sticks, add flour or knead more.

Keep the dough covered with a large bowl while working.

On a lightly floured bench, roll each portion into long even snakes, from the middle outwards; tap a sticky portion lightly in flour first.

Cut the snakes at an angle into pieces of about the same size with a knife or dough scraper; several snakes can be cut at once.

Lay the gnocchi on trays lined with baking paper and a little flour, spread out so they do not touch.

Freeze at least about 4 hours or overnight, then transfer to ziplock bags or containers.

Cook from frozen in boiling salted water; they are ready when they come to the surface, about three or four minutes. Boil the water before taking them out of the freezer.