A Special Dinner

Tonight I thought I would make a meal that I had never made before - homemade gnocchi. TS and I love gnocchi and I have a cooking magazine which had a recipe for homemade gnocchi with pesto sauce. Well, my mom sent me a jar of her homemade pesto, so that part of the recipe was taken care of and all I had to do was make the gnocchi.

I have so many gnocchi recipes, but I always buy pre-made gnocchi. This was my first attempt at making this potato pasta. Yes, you did read that correctly - another meal with potatoes as a base. But, this one I turned into a pasta. I would not recommend trying this recipe out on a weeknight unless you are (1) not working that day or (2) do not mind eating dinner late. I did not know this when I started preparing dinner at 630. We did not sit down to eat until 815. TS and I normally do not eat until late (I think I have said this before), so eating at 815 isn't that big of a deal, but I wish I had known this tidbit in advance. While it took some time, the results were very good. TS said it was "delicious!"

Homemade Gnocchi

1lb potato (peeled and cut into quarters)
1 1/4 c. semolina flour (plus more for dusting)
2 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Set potato in a large pot to boil. Once boiling, turn heat down and simmer for 25-30 mins, until potato is very soft.
2. Remove potato from water and set in a bowl and mash thoroughly, you do not want any chunks of potato.
3. Let potato cool so you can comfortably touch it.
4. Once cool, add flour and eggs to potato and mix until it forms a dough.
5. Turn dough onto a floured surface (use semolina flour) and knead a few times.
6. Separate dough into 6 balls and roll each ball into a "rope" about 1/2 inch in diameter
7. Using kitchen shears, cut 1/2 inch pieces of dough from rope and set on plate. Repeat until all your dough has been cut. (I put parchment paper/wax paper between layers of cut up dough).
8. Set pot of salted water to boil. Once boiling add 1/3 of the dough pieces to the boiling water and cook for 5 mins (your gnocchi should be floating at the top). Remove from water with slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Repeat process until all dough has been cooked.

At this point I added my mom's pesto sauce and some freshly grated Parmesan cheese to the gnocchi. Serve with a vegetable and you have a good meal.

I will definitely try this recipe again later on in the winter. If I have hours to kill one night, I may even try to make homemade gnocchi to go into the gnocchi mac n' cheese recipe I have. Mmm. You'll get that recipe one night this winter.

Until then, good eating!