Gnocchi al Pesto (Italian)

Gnocchi are a type of soft potato-dough pasta or dumplings very loved in the Italian cuisine and Italian-influenced cuisines all over the world. The Italian immigrants often held on the gnocchi as a strong part of their "home" comforts and culinary identity, thus popularizing these little soft treats in whatever country they went to. 
A really delicious way of serving them is by slathering in rich freshly made pesto genovese (basil pesto). Easier to make than it seems. Enjoy.
Recipe source: Saveur.

Last year: Pizza Margherita (Italian).
Two years ago: Pickled carrots in salt brine with honey and mustard (vegan).
Three years ago: Baby making and no cooking :).




Ingredients (serves 2):

• 1 medium potato (about 200 g)
• 5-6 tablespoons semolina flour
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter to toss
• extra grated Parmesan, and/or ground pepper to serve

For the pesto genovese:

• one large handful of basil (30 g)
• 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 50 g walnuts
• 50 g grated Parmesan

Boil the potato until soft, then peel it and mash it up with a fork. Mix it with the flour and egg and a little salt and pepper until a soft dough forms. 

Form the dough into gnocchi dumplings (for more detailed shaping steps check out our previous post here).

Bring a pot of salted water to boil an drop the gnocchi in it. When they rise to the surface they're done. Take out on a plate and continue boiling the remaining gnocchi. When all are cooked, toss them with the butter to coat them so they don't stick together. Divide between serving plates.

For the pesto, blitz the ingredients together with a blender then divide the resulting sauce between the gnocchi plates:

Mix well. Sprinkle each serving with extra pepper or grated Parmesan, if you'd like. It's done, dig in! :)