How do I cook gnocchi so it is not stodgy?

Gnocchi is potato and a small amount of flour, so it has almost no structure to protect it. It goes from tender to dissolving in under a minute, which is why the floating test matters more here than anywhere else.

Step by step

1. Use plenty of well-salted boiling water.A wide pan, water at a gentle rolling boil rather than a violent one. A hard boil knocks gnocchi apart.
2. Cook in batches.A single layer with room to move. Crowded gnocchi sticks together and cooks unevenly.
3. Take them out the moment they float.They rise as the interior heats and expands, which is the signal. Sixty to ninety seconds is normal. Give them a further ten seconds and no more.
4. Lift them out with a slotted spoon.Do not tip the pan into a colander — they collapse under their own weight and the falling water.
5. Consider skipping the water entirely.Shop-bought vacuum-packed gnocchi can go straight into a hot frying pan with oil or butter. Ten minutes, turning occasionally, until crisp and golden. It is a substantially better result than boiling.
6. Finish boiled gnocchi in the pan.Straight from the water into a pan of butter, sage and a spoonful of the cooking water. Two minutes tossing, and the sauce clings.
7. Keep the sauce light.Gnocchi is already heavy. Butter and sage, a simple tomato sauce, gorgonzola thinned with cream, or pesto. Heavy meat ragù overwhelms it.
8. Serve immediately.Gnocchi stiffens and turns gluey as it cools faster than pasta does. It does not hold.

Tips

• Frying shop-bought gnocchi rather than boiling it is the single biggest improvement available.
• Floating means ready. There is no second signal.
• Lift them out — never tip them into a colander.

Common mistakes

• Boiling gnocchi for the time on the packet — Packet times are conservative and gnocchi is done as soon as it floats, often well before. Every extra thirty seconds waterlogs it and moves it towards paste.
• Draining gnocchi in a colander — They are soft and fragile straight out of the water, and the weight of the pile plus the water landing on them crushes the lower layer. A slotted spoon keeps them intact.

If it doesn't work

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