Gluten Free Potato Gnocchi

This is a great way to make comforting gnocchi a whole lot healthier and homemade is always so much tastier than store bought. Just a few simple ingredients and a fun process to a delicious Italian meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs potatoes, peeled and eyes removed
• 1/2 medium head of garlic, cloves whole and smashed (see note 1)
• 1/2 Tbsp salt
• 2-2-1/2 cups brown or white rice flour, plus extra for kneading
• 2 eggs
• 4 egg yolks

Directions:

1. Place peeled potatoes, garlic, and salt in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 25-30 minutes (slightly over cooked and just starting to develop small cracks on the surface, but not falling apart).
2. Drain the potatoes fully. Place in a large mixing bowl, including the garlic, and mash until smooth and almost creamy (see note 2). Let cool a few minutes so you can handle them comfortably with your bear hands, but not too long or they will start to solidify.
3. Sprinkle flour on a clean, dry surface. Roughly spread the potatoes out on the flour, about an inch thick layer. Add the eggs and yolks on top of the potatoes. Sprinkle the first 1-1/2 cups of flour over the potato and eggs.
4. Use your clean hands to mix the eggs and flour into the potatoes. Add the remaining flour and knead together. Add extra flour if needed to bring the dough together so that it stays in a ball. It shouldn't be sticky, but not dry either - the key to great gnocchi is to not use too much flour. (See note 3)
5. Using a pastry cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough in half. Repeat until you have 8 or 16 sections, depending on what size is most comfortable for you and your space to work with. Add a tiny bit of flour if necessary as you form each section into a small ball. Set them aside.
6. One small ball of dough at a time, roll between hands and counter to form ropes about a 1/2 inch in thickness. Using the pastry cutter or knife, cut the rope into about 1/2 inch pieces. Carefully move to a bowl or strainer. Repeat until all dough is formed into gnocchi. (Be careful they do not squash each other in whatever container you use to collect them as you make them.)
7. Bring a pot of salted water to boil.  Add the gnocchi to the water. (It may be easier to do this in small batches.) As they begin to cook the gnocchi will rise to the surface. Let them cook a little bit more, but not more than 2 minutes or they will begin to disintegrate. 
8. Use a slotted spoon to remove the gnocchi from the boiling water and place in a strainer to finish draining. (See note 4)
9. Once all gnocchi are cooked and drained, serve warm with a little bit of butter or your pasta sauce of choice. (See note 5 for how to freeze for later if desired.)

Notes:

1. I'm going to post a quick tutorial on the easiest way to peel garlic cloves that will also result in smashed cloves. Post is here.
2. There are lots of ways to mash potatoes: with a potato ricer, potato masher, food processor, or mixer/beater. They all work fine. Use which ever method you like best.
3. If making with regular wheat flour (full gluten), use only the 2 whole eggs (no additional yolks). For gluten free pasta you will always have to add extra egg yolks to bind the dough since there is no gluten to do that job. Also, farm fresh brown eggs are more effective so you may need to reduce the number of egg yokes as well - I haven't tried this so I don't know how much, have just read about it - because they are more binding than store bought eggs.
4. I cook the potatoes in my pasta/steamer set with the pasta insert. This is convenient to pull the potatoes out, draining most of the water at the same time. I then keep the water in the pot, covered, while I make the gnocchi and then use them same water and pasta insert to boil them. Convenient and reduces the amount of water used. (Conservation tip)
5. If you want to make these ahead of time, or there is simply too much for you, you can freeze these gnocchi to eat at a later date. To freeze them: 1) Spread the cooked gnocchi on a large cookie sheet to fully cool and dry out a little bit. 2) Place them in a plastic ziplock bag and label the bag before placing in the freezer. I find it best to lay the bag out flat in the freezer until the are frozen to minimize them squashing each other. 3) To reheat: Thaw and add to boiling, salted water for a few minutes until floating and slightly puffed up. Drain and serve as in step 8.

Update:

I've just cooked some of this that I had frozen and it kind of started to disintegrate so I think that next time it needs an extra 2 egg whites in addition to what is written above.