• Two medium sized maris potatoes. Weigh them – you want about 200-220g.
• One egg yolk
• 40-60g flour
• Salt

This is a recipe for two people. Prick the potatoes all over and bake at 220c for half an hour then turn down to 200 for another 15-20 mins. Take them out of the oven and cut them in half, allowing them to steam for three or four minutes. When you can pick them up but they’re still hot, use the ricer to push the flesh onto the big chopping board.

Salt the potato and dust with two thirds of the flour then make a well in the middle of the pile. Add the egg yolk, then use the bench scraper to bring together a dough. It should hold together when rolled into two long cylinders. If it doesn’t, add more flour, but only a little at a time and only just enough – flour is not our friend if we want light and melt in the mouth. Incorporate well before rolling again.

Once you have two long cylinders, use the bench scraper to cut each gnocchi out one at a time. They’ll plump in the water, so go a little smaller than you might think. Lightly dust all with flour, particularly if they feel a little sticky.

Cook in well salted boiling water until they float and then another 15 seconds or so. Pull them out of the water and into their sauce or whatever else you’re making (sage foamed in butter with some garlic is good and simple, or use a similar flavour profile to this or this). Don’t transfer more than a tablespoon of the cooking water, they’ll be delicate and light at this point and we don’t want them overcooked or claggy. For the same reason, if they’re going into a wetter sauce (like a tomato sauce for example), toss them very quickly and serve speedily.