You will need:

• About 450g/1lb Maris Piper or King Edward potatoes (peeled weight)
• 225g/8oz plain flour, sifted
• 1 egg yolk
• No salt

Cook the potatoes in unsalted water, drain and return them to the pot. Dry them off on the heat and mash them well or pass them through a mouli.

Weigh out exactly 450g/1lb and fold in the flour. Add the egg yolk and blend everything together with clean, floured hands.

Pat the mixture into a round and cut off pieces, rolling out 6-8 fat cigar shapes.

Now cut 1in pieces and roll each piece over the back of a fork, pressing it in to form ridges and shape it like a butter curl. Lay the gnocchi on a tray covered with strips of cling-film.

To cook them:
Prepare a very large pot of boiling salted water. Use the cling fim to add the gnocchi in batches, about twenty at a time. As soon as it touches the boiling water it shrivels up, dropping the gnocchi effortlessly in one swoop into the water.

They are cooked in a couple of minutes when they rise to the surface. Remove them with a slotted spoon to a warm dish that has a layer of sauce in it. Cook the rest in the same way.

When they are all cooked, cover with the rest of the sauce and serve with plenty of freshly grated pecorino Romano or parmigiano.

Sugo con pomodoro e burro
This is the most delicious sugo for gnocchi or pasta.