If I had to choose my last meal on earth, gnocchi in pesto cream sauce would for sure make the top 5. This recipe produces oh-so-tender pasta pillows with an ultra basil-y cream sauce (I kind of love basil – a lot) that’s worth every calorie.

Ricing the potatoes while they’re piping hot = fluffy gnocchi.

If I had to do it over, I would just cut the dough in 6 horizontal strips. The pie slice shape didn’t make for easy rope rolling.

If you have one of these mini food processors, it whips up pesto in a flash.

For this batch, I didn’t put in the traditional fork ridges which helps the sauce adhere better, but this youtube video has a great little demo.

Potato Gnocchi
adapted from Lidia’s Italian Table via Epicurious

Makes 3 generous or 4 slightly smaller main-course or 6 generous first-course servings (or 2 servings for people with no self control)

[ingredients]

3 large baking (Idaho) potatoes (about 1 3/4 – 2 pounds), scrubbed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper (or regular black)
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, or as needed (I used 1 1/2 for the dough and about a 1/4 cup for dusting)

[to make gnocchi:]

Bake the potatoes in a preheated 400°F oven until tender, about 1 hour. Let them stand just until cool enough to handle, but the hotter the potatoes are when they are peeled and riced, the lighter the gnocchi will be. Working quickly and protecting the hand that holds the potatoes with a folded kitchen towel or oven mitt, scrape the skin from the potato with a paring knife. Press the peeled potatoes through a potato ricer. Alternatively, the potatoes can be passed through a food mill fitted with the fine disc, but a ricer makes fluffier potatoes and therefore lighter gnocchi. Spread the riced potatoes into a thin, even layer on the work surface, without pressing them or compacting them. Let them cool completely. (I riced the potatoes in a very large bowl to keep the dough contained.)

In a small bowl, beat the egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg together. Gather the cold potatoes into a mound and form a well in the center. Pour the egg mixture into the well. Knead the potato and egg mixtures together with both hands, gradually adding the grated cheese and enough of the flour, about 1 1/2 cups, to form a smooth but slightly sticky dough. It should take no longer than 3 minutes to work the flour into the potato mixture; remember, the longer the dough is kneaded, the more flour it will require and the heavier it will become. As you knead the dough, it will stick to your hands and to the work surface: Repeatedly rub this rough dough from your hands and scrape it with a knife or dough scraper from the work surface back into the dough as you knead.

Wash and dry your hands. Dust the dough, your hands, and the work surface lightly with some of the remaining flour. Cut the dough into six equal pieces and set off to one side of the work surface. Place one piece of dough in front of you and pat it into a rough oblong. Using both hands, in a smooth back-and-forth motion and exerting light downward pressure, roll the dough into a rope 1/2 inch thick, flouring the dough if necessary as you roll to keep it from sticking.

Slice the ropes into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Sprinkle the rounds lightly with flour and roll each piece quickly between your palms into a rough ball, flouring the dough and your hands as needed to prevent sticking. Hold the tines of a fork at a 45-degree angle to the table with the concave part facing up. Dip the tip of your thumb in flour. Take one ball of dough and with the tip of your thumb, press the dough lightly against the tines of the fork as you roll it downward toward the tips of the tines. As the dough wraps around the tip of your thumb, it will form into a dumpling with a deep indentation on one side and a ridged surface on the other. Set on a baking sheet lined with a floured kitchen towel and continue forming gnocchi from the remaining dough balls. Repeat the whole process with the remaining pieces of dough. At this point the gnocchi must be cooked immediately or frozen.

[to cook gnocchi:]

Bring 6 quarts of salted water to a vigorous boil in a large pot over high heat. Drop about half the gnocchi into the boiling water a few at a time, stirring gently and continuously with a wooden spoon. Cook the gnocchi, stirring gently, until tender, about 1 minute after they rise to the surface.

Remove the gnocchi from the water with a slotted spoon of skimmer, draining them well, and transfer to saute pan with warm pesto cream sauce. When all the gnocchi are cooked and placed in the sauce, turn to coat evenly.

When saucing gnocchi, remember this tip: If the sauce is too dense or the gnocchi seem too dry, use some of the gnocchi cooking water to thin the sauce and moisten the gnocchi, as you would with pasta dishes.

Basil Pesto Cream Sauce
by me

[ingredients]

2 – 3 oz basil
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup whole milk
1 cup grated parmesan reggiano

[to make sauce:]

In a small food processor, add basil, pine nuts, and drizzle in oil gradually. Set aside. In a medium saute pan, saute garlic in butter until fragrant (about 30 seconds) on medium-low heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Add milk, whisk until smooth. Add cheese, whisk until melted and smooth. Let mixture come to a light simmer, turn heat down to low. The mixture should now be slightly thicker and will coat the back of a spoon. Whisk in basil/pine nut/oil mixture. Keep on very low heat and as gnocchi floats to the top in the pot of boiling water, add to sauce and coat.