The Tyrol: Nioch da patac (Potato Gnocchi, Tyrolean style)

A basic gnocchi recipe, but with a northern accent -- because Tyrolean cooks were more likely to have easy access to the hardier barley flour: wheat flour would have been an expensive luxury for mountain people.

Nioch da patac / Potato Gnocchi, Tyrolean style

(Other names: Gnocchi di patate, Kartoffelnocken)

• 1 kilogram potatoes, boiled in their skins, peeled and mashed

• 300 grams barley flour
• 3 eggs
• Salt to taste

Mix all the ingredients together well and form into little "egg-shapes" about 2 cm long. Once formed, score them all around with a fork (this create nice little crinkles for the sauce or seasoning to catch on).

Cook in boiling salted water for a few minutes, until the gnocchi rise to the surface.

Remove from the water, drain, and garnish with grated cheese and browned butter. (They can also be baked briefly in the oven to melt the cheese.)