Gnocchi al forno

Serves 4

For the gnocchi:
500g new potatoes
200g plain flour
Salt & peppr

for the white sauce:
50 gr butter
50 gr plain flour
500 hot milk
salt & freshly ground black pepper
150 gr fontina cheese, roughly chopped
200 gr ham, roughly chopped
30 gr butter, plus extra for greasing
6 sage leaves
600 gr ready-made potato gnocchi
100 gr parmesan cheese, freshly grated
salt & pepper

1. First make the gnocchi by boiling the potatoes (with their skin on) for 15 mins. Peel and pass through a mouli or potato ricer. Add the flour, salt & pepper and work into a dough. Roll out (a handful at a time) into a sausage about ½ inch thick then cut into ½-1 inch pieces.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. Make the white sauce by melting the butter in a small pan over a low heat, add the flour, mixing well to obtain a smooth paste, stirring all the time.  To avoid lumps, use a small hand whisk.  Gradually hot the hot milk, stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to thicken.  After about 10 minutes, when the sauce has thickened, remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and stir in the fontina cheese and ham.

3. Bring a large saucepan of slightly salted water to the boil. Meanwhile, heat the butter in a small pan, add the sage leaves and saute' for a minute.

4. Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water and when they float to the surface, take them out with a slotted spoon and add them to the pan of butter and sage, strirring well.

5. Lightly grease an ovenproof dish with some butter. Spread a little of the cheese and ham sauce on the base of the dish and ad the rest to the cooked gnocchi, mixing well.  Pour half of the gnocchi into the dish, sprinkle with some parmesan, then pour in the remaining gnocchi and top with the remaining parmesan.

6. Cover with a sheet of foil and bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue to bake for a further 15 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven,leave to rest for a couple of minutes and serve.

(Easy Italian - Gennaro Contaldo)