28 oz canned tomatoes drained finely chopped canned (reserving juice)
1 small garlic clove minced
0.5 cup guanciale finely chopped (cured pork jowl)
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 servings pecorino cheese finely grated
1.3 cups onion red finely chopped
1.3 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
0.5 cup water
1.5 lb yukon gold potatoes
Equipment
bowl
pot
sieve
baking pan
wooden spoon
ziploc bags
kitchen towels
slotted spoon
colander
potato ricer
Directions
Heat oil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté guanciale and onion, stirring, until onion is golden, about 6 minutes.
Add garlic and sauté, stirring, until golden, about 1 minute.
Add tomatoes with reserved juice, water, sugar, and salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 30 minutes.
Cover potatoes with salted cold water by 2 inches in a large pot, then simmer, uncovered, until very tender, about 25 minutes.
Drain in a colander and, when cool enough to handle, peel.
Force warm potatoes through ricer into a large bowl.
Add flour and salt and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture begins to come together. Gently form dough into a ball and cut in half.
Knead each dough half on a floured surface until smooth, about 1 minute (if dough sticks to surface, dust lightly with additional flour).
Cut each half evenly into 10 pieces.
Roll 1 piece into a 14-inch-long rope (1/2 inch thick), keeping remaining pieces covered with a kitchen towel.
Cut rope crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces and toss pieces lightly with flour on work surface.
Press a piece of dough against tines of a floured fork and push with a floured thumb in a forward rolling motion toward end of tines, letting gnocchetti fall from fork into a well-floured shallow baking pan. Make more gnocchetti in same manner.
Just before cooking, gently shake gnocchetti in 4 batches in a large medium-mesh sieve to knock off excess flour. Cook gnocchetti in 4 batches in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling salted water until they float, about 1 minute.
Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large shallow bowl as cooked and spoon some sauce on top.
• Sauce can be made 2 days ahead and chilled, covered. Reheat before proceeding. • Gnocchetti can be formed (but not cooked) 1 week ahead and frozen in floured baking pan, covered, until hard, about 3 hours, then put in a sealed plastic bag. Do not thaw before cooking. Boil frozen gnocchetti about 2 minutes. *Available at Salumeria Biellese (212-736-7376).
