G is for Gnocchi

Sadly, this is a photo of the Gnocchi that i DID NOT boil yet.
The rest got gobbled up!

it's so soft and potato-ey.
It's light and the exact amount of Gnocchi-chewyness you want.

I've been obsessed with Gnocchi ever since Italy and now i can make it?
Haw dangerous is that?

The thing is to leave it in semolina flour to prevent it from sticking before you get round to boiling them.
When you boil the Gnocchi the flour comes right off so no worries.

I made a sun-dried tomato paste and used up my whole tube of sun dried tomatoes.
So, no tomato paste for dinner.

Man, i hate it when this happens.

Potato Gnocchi
(adapted from She Eats Bears)


6 Large Potatoes
1 cup flour
1 egg
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Semolina Flour

What you want to do is skin the potatoes and boil them until they are really nice and tender. And then you take them out of the pot and crush them with a potato ricer while they are still hot.

You should get a kind of potato paste.

Then you add the salt and pepper and mix it well with a wooden spoon. Add in the egg and knead until well Incorporated. Add in the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough is firm but not too sticky. You can add some cheese here but i chose to add the cheese later on.

Divide the dough into quarters and roll each quarter into a long log. Slice it into small cubes and press it gently with a fork to get the 'Gnocchi look'. Sprinkle a baking sheet with semolina flour and place your Gnocchi bits there to rest before you boil them.

To cook them, drop the Gnocchi Dumplings into lightly salted boiling water until the float to the top (about 2 minutes). Use a ladle to get the ready-to-eat dumplings out.

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
(this one i stole from my Mom)


1 large white onion, finely sliced
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped (i got lazy and used the one in the tube)
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt to taste

Drain tomatoes and discard the oil. Chop finely.

Heat some olive oil in a pan and slowly fry the onions until brown and caramelised. Deglaze the pan with wine and bring to a boil until the wine has almost evaporated. Stir in the tomatoes and heat through. Season with salt.

Leave to cool before pulsing in a food processor until pesto is a coarse paste.

You could add some cream to this to get it into a sauce for the Gnocchi. But i chose to go cream-less.