My Kind of Necessity

"I'm crazy about westerns. I need to do a western once in a while. It's like you know, eating bread, eating pasta, drinking wine. It's in my blood. I need it." - Franco Nero

Nero and I will have to agree to disagree on the bit about westerns, but he did have one thing right...good pasta can definitely be a need. I have definitely eaten my fair share of pasta in the nearly 23 years that I have been on this earth. (In all actuality, it's probably been more than my fair share...but really, who's counting?) However, until tonight, I had never made my own pasta. I'm not even sure that I knew you could make pasta at home until a few years ago. I had only ever experienced pre-packaged dried pasta. But tonight, with a tempting recipe from my Williams-Sonoma cookbook, I set out to rectify my mistaken presumptions about what good pasta is and where it comes from. For my first attempt at making my own pasta, I chose an intrigueing recipe for Gnocchi with Pesto.

So let's get started!

Gnocchi with Pesto
recipe courtesy of The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook


Ingredients:
Salt
3 russet potatoes
1/2 c. plus 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp. ground Nutmeg
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 c. Pesto
6 Tbsp. butter


First, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and then add the scrubbed, but unpeeled potatoes, and let cook for 30 minutes or until fork-tender.


Drain and peel the potatoes and then place in a large bowl. Add the grated parmesan,
salt, and nutmeg and mash well with a potato masher. Let cool to lukewarm, mix in the egg and then 1 cup of the flour.

Knead the dough, adding more flour 1 Tbsp at a time as needed, until a soft and sticky dough forms, about 3 minutes.


Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then divide it into 6 equal pieces. On a lightly floured surface, use your palms to roll each piece into a rope 1/4 inch thick. Cut the ropes into 1 inch pieces. To form the grooves in the Gnocchi that will hold the sauce, roll each piece over the tines of a large fork or down the length of a wire whisk.

In 2 batches, cook the Gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, stirring often to prevent sticking, about 3-5 minutes per batch. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a baking sheet.

Put the pesto an the 1/2 cup grated Parmesan in a large bowl. In a large frying pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the Gnocchi and saute until heated through, 3-5 minutes. Transfer the Gnocchi to the bowl of pesto and cheese and toss to coat. Serve immediately!


The Gnocchi was really good, but it took a really long time to make, so this is definitely not a quick dinner! The original recipe said to cook for 5 minutes in the boiling water, but I think this was a little long because my first batch got a little over-cooked. The second batch was much better when I took it out after 3 minutes. My only complaint about this recipe is that by the time I finished cooking it, I wasn't very hungry anymore! Ryan finished all of his, though, and he said it was very tasty! So if you have a free afternoon, and want to try your hand at making your own pasta, this is a good recipe!