Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle peel the skin.

Dice or slice the bacon and render the fat until the bacon is crispy. Add diced onions and allow them to golden up as well. If you don’t like the taste of raw garlic add the minced garlic about 30 seconds before the onions are done browning. Now tilt the skillet to one side and bring all bacon and onions to the raised part, letting all fat to collect at the bottom. Remove the fat and discard. Reserve the bacon & onion until needed.

Now that the potatoes are somewhat cool, add the flour, egg, salt and pepper (and Parmesan cheese, if using) and with minimal amount of mixing bring everything into a dough like consistency. Mixing too long will make your gnocchi gummy.

Tear a baseball sized piece, roll into a ball and on a well floured surface roll into 1 inch rope. With a knife, cut the dough rope into 1/2 inch pieces and transfer to a well floured surface. Continue working on the rest of the dough. Use a fork or the gnocchi board to make the groves on each gnocchi if desired.

Fill a large pasta pot with water, salt it liberally until the water is as salty as seawater. Bring it to a rolling boil over high heat. Drop the gnocchi into the water, stir and let them rise to the top. Once they rise to the top, cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute and remove with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

Then quickly transfer to a bowl with some bacon, caramelized onion, parsley or dill (if using) and a dab of butter or a tablespoon or two of olive oil. If you don’t mind the smell of fresh garlic add it to the bowl and toss everything together to prevent gnocchi from sticking to each other.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkling of black ground pepper.