Food,  Vegetables

Pesto Gnocchi

April 13, 2011 /

Good rainy morning to you all!

I have a big presentation this morning to the big man on campus here at work and all his staff so this is going to be a short and sweet intro. Need to prepare! I am not one of those people that really gets nervous when I present to a crowd, I think that may be because I am a dancer and have spent a lot of time on stage. Either way even though I don’t get nervous I do like to be prepared for the pack of wolves I am about to get up in front of, haha.

This recipe that I am going to share with you was a new experiment I tried. I have never made gnocchi before but I have been seeing so many great gnocchi recipes as of late. So I wanted to try my hand at it!

Ingredients for Pesto:

  • 3 cups fresh basil
  • 3/4 cup fresh parsley
  • 2 tablespoon pine nuts
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parmesan
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 clove of garlic
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Place basil and parsley into a food processor and pulse a few times until chopped. Add in pine nuts, parmesan, salt, and garlic. Pulse a few more times until combined. Add the olive oil while processor is in use. TADA! Yummy Pesto!

Ingredients for Gnocchi:

  • 2 lbs baking potatoes
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 large egg yolk, beaten
  • 1 cup all purpose flour (divided)

Preheat oven to 400º

Pierce potatoes in several spots with a fork and place in the oven for about 45 minutes to an hour. Just make sure they are cooked all the way through. Let the potatoes cool for about 20 minutes and then scoop out the inside of the potatoes out, discard the skins. Use a ricer or a potato masher to get the potatoes nice and smooth.

Gather your potatoes onto a clean surface and sprinkle with salt and let cool again for about 15-20 minutes. While that is cooling, put a large pot on your stove and boil some water. I would say maybe 3-4 cups worth of water.

Pour egg yolk over the cooled potato and sprinkle 1 cup of flour on. Use a metal spatula to gently fold the flour and egg into the potatoes until combined. It won’t look like dough at this point. Gently squeeze, knead, and pat the dough until it holds together. Do not knead it too much or the dough will get tough. It should resemble cookie dough or biscuit dough. It will remain sticky, but if it is too sticky add some flour.

Pat the dough into about a 1 1/2″ thick disc and divide into 4 equal pieces. Working on a lightly floured surface (flour those digits too 😉 ) roll each portion into a 24-26″ long snake that is about 1/2-3/4″ wide. Cut the snake into 3/4″ pieces. Using a fork and a your thumb take the dough and roll down the fork to create grooves and then gently push ends together to close gap but do not to press to completely close gap you just made with thumb. Place the gnocchi on a floured baking sheet until you are ready to cook.

Adjust heat on boiling water so that it is at a gentle boil. Add about a quarter of gnocchi into the water at a time. When the gnocchi floats to the top it means it is done. Transfer the cooked gnocchi onto a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper with a slotted spoon to drain excess water. Continue the process until all your gnocchi is cooked. Serve immediately!

Toss your gnocchi with your fresh pesto and garnish with some fresh shaved parmesan and a small drizzle of olive oil.

Wish me luck!

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