Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage

Ingredients

• 2 lbs russet potatoes
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (approximately)
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp butter
• 8 sage leaves
• Parmesan for serving

Method

1. Bake: Bake potatoes at 400°F for 1 hour until very tender. Halve, scoop flesh, rice through a potato ricer while still hot.

2. Spread: Spread riced potato on a work surface. Make a well. Add egg yolk, salt, and half the flour. Gently fold together, adding flour until dough just holds together. Do NOT overwork — overworked gnocchi are dense and gummy.

3. Roll: Roll dough into 3/4-inch ropes. Cut into 1-inch pieces. Roll each piece over a fork to create ridges (optional — the ridges catch sauce).

4. Step: Boil gnocchi in salted water. They're done when they float (2–3 min).

5. Brown: Brown butter: melt butter over medium heat until foaming, then golden brown and nutty. Add sage leaves, fry 30 sec until crispy. Toss gnocchi in brown butter. Serve with Parmesan.

What You're Practicing

• The #1 rule: handle the dough as little as possible. Overworking develops gluten = dense gnocchi.
• Baking (not boiling) the potatoes keeps them dry — less moisture = less flour needed = lighter gnocchi.
• Rice the potatoes while hot — cold potatoes clump and require more working.
• Brown butter + sage is the classic pairing, but gnocchi also works with pesto, tomato sauce, or cream sauce.