Gnocchi di Patate

Gnocchi (pronounced: 'nyoki') are various thick, soft dumplings. They may be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, flour, egg and cheese, potato, breadcrumbs or similar ingredients. They are generally home-made in Italian households. They may also be bought fresh from specialty stores. Packaged gnocchi are widely available refrigerated, dried, or frozen. Common accompaniments of gnocchi include tomato sauces, pesto, and melted butter with cheese.

Ingredients (serves 4)
For Gnocchi
6-7 medium potatoes freshly boiled
1/2 cup rice flour (little less or more)
1/2 tsp salt (according to taste)

For Tomato Sauce
4-5 medium tomatoes chopped
1 onion chopped
1 pod of garlic (optional)
1 tsp butter/olive oil or any oil
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
2 tbsp grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tbsp basil leaves chopped
Salt to taste

Method
For Gnocchi
Peel & mash/grate the potatoes as soon as you can after boiling. This helps mashed potatoes to loose more moisture while cooling after being mashed.
Mix the mashed potatoes with rice flour & salt and work the mixture into a dough. Try not to use too much flour.
Make long rolls of the dough and cut into small pieces.
Now either flatten the balls with the back of a fork or use a ridged board, to give gnocchi their shape.
In a separate pot, boil water with salt. When water starts boiling, put the gnocchi in & as soon as they starts to float, take them out with slotted spoon. Keep aside.

For Tomato Sauce
Heat the butter in a pan, add the onion & garlic and sauté till the onion turns translucent.
Add the tomatoes and sauté till very soft.
Cool this & blend in a mixer. Strain the mixture to get a thick purée.
Put the purée back on fire. Add basil, salt, chilli flakes & 1/2 Parmesan and mix well. Bring the sauce to a boil. Keep aside.

Plating
Just before you want to serve, mix the cooked Gnocchi with sauce and serve it with remaining grated Parmesan cheese.

Tips
Test one gnocchi by boiling it in water. If the gnocchi breaks, you may need to add 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour in the gnocchi dough.
Cooked gnocchi can be stored in freezer for later use.
You can use same amount of maida or plain flour in place of rice flour, while making gnocchi.
You can add 2 tbsp of spinach purée in gnocchi dough to make spinach gnocchi.
You can also toss the gnocchi in any other sauce of your choice.