The Best Homemade Gnocchi Recipe

I was searching some food blogs for the best gnocchi recipe and discovered this one,
http://wellpreserved.ca/2012/02/04/possibly-the-best-homemade-gnocchi-recipe-2/.

I had made gnocchi several years ago with my step Italian Grandmother.  She showed me how she made her gnocchi, but she used a tomato base sauce to cover the pasta dumplings.
This recipe is made with pesto, chopped leeks, and garlic.  I like the method of frying them before eating them, it gives them a different texture in your mouth.  This gnocchi will put you in a pasta coma! 
 
Ingredients
Gnocchi:

• 2 pounds potatoes after peeling (we used Yukon Gold’s)  This is about 4 large potatoes.
• 2 cups of flour plus extra for rolling.
• 1 room temperature large egg
• salt

Sauce:

• Butter (a tablespoon or less)
• Olive Oil (A tablespoon or less)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Chopped Garlic
• Chopped Leeks
• A splash of vinegar (cider or any flavored vinegar is preferred)
• 0.5-1 whole lemon
• Lots of green stuff, especially bitter or savory.  This could be one of:
  • A bunch of herbs (oregano and basil as a combo would be good).
  • Pesto 
  
   Directions
  Gnocchi:
  
• Start by boiling  too much water.
• Peel and weigh potatoes.  Leave whole.
• Place potatoes in the boiling water with a lid on them.
• Once potatoes are finished cooking (test with a fork but be patient, they’ll take some time).
• Pour potatoes through a fine sieve.  Let them cool in the sieve so that all possible water drains.  Letting them cool is a key.
• Once the taters are cool, start a new large pot of water boiling.  Once again, use too much water.
• Place potatoes and all those little pieces of potato ‘bit’ that the sieve captured into a bowl.  These are full of starch.
• If you have a potato ricer, process the room temperature potato with it.  If you’re like us, just mash them with a potato masher.  Salt potatoes at this time.
• Lightly beat the egg so it’s a consistent color.
• Add the egg to the potato and give it all a good mixin’.
• Add the flour, a bit at a time to make the dough.  Add a bit, mix, add a bit, mix and repeat until done.  You should have a lovely elastic dough.
• Place a bit of extra flour on a large cutting board.  Use this flour any time your hands stick to your dough or it gets stuck to anything.  Little layers of flour will prevent sticking.
• Roll small balls of dough into tubes – about the width of a large finger and the length of two fingers long.
• As you finish each roll, cut into small chunks.
• You can either put a finger print into each one or roll the small chunks on a fork to get some texture on the gnocchi.
• The tough stuff is done!
• When your water hits a full boil, melt butter and olive oil on medium-high (a heavy pan such as a cast-iron skillet is perfect).  Don’t let it smoke and if it starts to, simply remove from heat.
• The gnocchi will float when it’s finished cooking (it’s very quick) – drain it well.
• Add leeks and garlic to the oil/butter.  Stir for 15-20 seconds.
• Drop the gnocchi into the oil, keeping the heat high.  Stir periodically to distribute the butter and oil.  Add your green stuff, continue to stir and cook for a few more minutes (don’t worry about overcooking it as long as you aren’t burning anything – heat will slightly crisp the outet layer of your gnocchi at worse).
• Squeeze fresh lemon to taste right before serving.  Don’t miss this step, it really takes the entire dish to new heights.

I also like to top it with a bit of Parmesan cheese that has been finely grated with a rasp.