Recipe for gnocchi

Perhaps in another life I was Italian. I know that in this one I love Italian food.
This gnocchi recipe is one of my favourites. Making it from scratch is terribly therapeutic, and for me one of life's pleasures.

Making fresh pesto is an almost weekly ritual. The sauce for this recipe uses a few tablespoons of pesto. Everything else should already be in your fridge or pantry.

Boil 500g of potato(approx 3-4 medium sized spuds), till soft then peel while still hot. Use a potato ricer/mill to create a fluffy mound of potato. Mix in approx half a cup of plain flour - till you have the right consistency. Too much and you end up with a sticky blob. Best to underdo the flour and correct later as you are rolling the gnocchi dough. Break dough into 4 and roll each piece into a long cylinder. Cut into the desired size.

For the sauce, take 4 rashers of bacon and finely chop, fry in pan till golden, then add a 400g tin of diced tomatoes and a handful of cherry tomatoes that have been finely chopped. Cook for 5 minutes, then stir in 2 tablespoons of freshly made pesto. I prefer to make my pesto with a mortar and pestle. The pounding releases a lot more chlorophyll and flavour.

The end result. Perfect with Chianti, but also great with most full bodied reds.






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