As far as gluten-free pastas go, gnocchi is an obvious choice. It’s main ingredient is potatoes. I found a good recipe online and then worked it and re-worked it until it turned out well. One of the saddest things about my increased food sensitivities is I can no longer eat potatoes, but I posted this recipe for those of you who can.

2 large russet potatoes (about 2lbs)
2 eggs, whipped
1 cup brown rice flour plus extra for the cutting board

Cook potatoes, either by baking (I used the microwave) or boiling. Once potatoes are cooked but still hot, remove the skin. You want to mash them while still hot. To mash the potatoes either run them through a ricer or use the back of a fork (I used a fork). You want an even consistency without visible lumps but that is still light and fluffy.

Let the potatoes cool spread out on a cutting or pastry board. Once cool, mound the potatoes together and drizzle the whipped eggs over the potatoes and sprinkle about 3/4 cup of the flour on top. Combine the three ingredients with a spatula or pastry scrapper. Fold and scrap the dough until it’s a light crumble then gently knead it. Add more flour at this point if the dough is still tacky feeling. Dough should be moist but not sticky and feel billowy.

Cut the dough into eight pieces. Gently roll each piece into a snake-like log about the same diameter of your thumb. Cut the dough into 3/4 inch pieces. Gently roll the tinges of a fork across each piece to make indentations in the dough. It should curl up in a “C” shape with ridges from the tinges. This set takes practice. Set each piece of pasta aside, sprinkling lightly with extra flour. I set mine on a parchment paper wrapped baking sheet.

Once all the gnocchi is made, you can either drop them carefully in boiling salted water to cook and eat immediately or freeze for later. Cook them in small batches. You know they’re done when they float up to the top of the pot. Serve them with pesto or even just a drizzle of good quality olive oil and a sprinkle of herbs.

When I froze mine, I stretched plastic wrap over the baking sheet full of pasta and set it in the freezer for overnight. The next day I removed the baking sheet and slipped the frozen gnocchi into a freezer bag and returned them to the freezer.