1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Spread some salt on the bottom of a sheet pan. 
3. Wash your potatoes well. Prick them all over with a fork. If reusing or eating your potato skins: spread some olive oil on your hands and rub all over the skin, just until they are shiny to get them to crisp nicely in the oven.
4. Spread the potatoes out well on the baking sheet and cook for 1 ½ hours(for smaller potatoes, 1 hour should do, medium to large need the extra half hour to cook in the middle), or until they are tender all the way through (test them with a fork if you aren’t sure)
5. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh into a potato rice and rice them onto some paper towels (this catches some of the moisture, and moisture is the enemy of fluffy gnocchis). 
6. Once your riced potato has cooled completely we can begin to work the dough. 
7. Measure out the flour and sift into a bowl with the salt. 
8. Prepare a workstation that is either a clean counter top or a very large cutting board and flour well with the extra flour.
9. Dump your potato onto your work surface and cover with half the flour mixture. Drizzle the olive oil over everything, then gently work the flour and oil in until a dough is formed and you can roll it into a firm ball. This should still be soft and pliant, but not sticky. Add more flour as needed, but be careful not to over-add, if you do the dough will be tough and too chewy.
10. Now we test a small piece: bring a small pan of salted water to a boil, then form a small single gnocchi from the dough. When the water is boiling, put the dough into the water and let boil until it has risen to the surface. Using a slotted spoon, remove the dough from the water and let cool, then taste. TROUBLESHOOTING: If the dough falls apart in the water, it needs more all purpose flour. 
11. Once the Gnocchi dough is to your liking, go ahead and divide the dough up into fours. Working in batches, roll the dough gently into a long rope that is about ½ inch wide. Using a knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into ½ inch pieces. OPTIONAL: for ridged gnocchi, roll each piece against the tines of the fork to make light ridges. I do not do this as it is way too much work, but it looks nice and people say it helps the gnocchi hold the sauce, but for this dish we are baking everything casserole style, so that’s not a problem.
12. These pieces add up quick, so a good way to store them is to prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or on a floured work surface.
13. Leave the gnocchi’s out to air dry for about an hour.

To Cook: You will have to work in batches. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, then place batches in and wait for the dough to rise to the surface. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and dump directly into your prepared sauce, taking care not to get too much water in the sauce. Make sure the water has resumed boiling before tossing in the next batch of gnocchi, you want a roiling boil so they do not go mushy. If you don’t want to sauce them right away for whatever reason, you can place them on a large dish/container/plate and then mix in some olive oil to keep them from sticking.

For Soup: add directly to the boiling soup and boil for about 8 mins, stirring occasionally.

To Freeze: Place the (uncooked) shaped gnocchi on a parchment lined baking sheet so they do not touch. Leave in the freezer until the are frozen solid, then deposit in a labeled bag (you don’t want to leave this in your freezer for more than 6 months for quality assurance) . To cook, follow the instructions above. If adding to a soup, just add directly to the soup and bring back to a boil. Boil for about 8 mins, stirring occasionally.