The participants in my Gnocchi Cooking Class requested Pesto as the sauce for their Gnocchi. It’s a perfect fit this time of year when we all have Basil busting loose in our quarantine gardens! This is a great recipe if you are new at making pasta because it does not require any special ingredients and it’s fun for the kids to help. Basically it’s like playing with play dough as you roll out the “snake” that will become your Gnocchi.
Pesto Sauce:
- 4 cups fresh Basil leaves
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic smashed
- 1/2 shredded or grated Parmesan
- 1/4 cup of Pine nuts or walnuts
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- optional (but tasty,) 1/2 cup cream to add to the pesto when heating it up
Whirl all Pesto ingredients together with a blender or hand blender
Gnocchi (feeds 4)
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds yellow or red potatoes (about 7 medium size)
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructioms:
- Cook whole potatoes in boiling water until tender (about 35 minutes)
- Meanwhile make your Pesto
- make a flour “volcano” by heaping the flour on your cooking surface, add salt
- “Rice” the cooked and cooled potatoes or use a fork to crumble it
- add it to the flour pile and crack the egg
- start to whisk the egg into the flour potato pile until it is incorporated enough to start to knead it,, knead until a sold ball forms
- Cut the ball into four pieces
- Take a piece and start rolling it like a snake
- If it gets too long (more than 6 “), cut it in half and keep rolling until it is the width of your ring finger
- cut the “snake” into sections 3/4” long
- roll each “dumpling” across the back tongs of a fork to create ridges
- start a large pot of water boiling to cook the gnocchi, add 2 teaspoons of salt
- Continue rolling out the rest of the Gnocchi in the same way
- Once the pasta has all been rolled out, add to the boiling pot of water, cook until the Gnocchi float to the top
- Add Cream to a small skillet, heat and add Pesto, just barely bring it to a bubble then turn off the heat, add gnocchi and serve!
- tip for cooking potatoes: Boil your WHOLE potatoes, they should still be hot but not so hot that you can’t touch them. Start the pot to boil one hour before you are ready for them, the potatoes should be placed in the pot when the water is boiling. Depending on the size it may take 30-45 minutes to cook them whole. They should be tender when poked with a fork. Remove them from the boiling water and allow to cool. Do not over cook them or allow them to stay in the hot water after they are finished cooking, this will make them gummy.
