gnocchi with fresh basil pesto and sausage

gnocchi with fresh basil pesto and sausage

A few weeks ago I made gnocchi, and it was delicious! I served it with a mushroom sauce, and it was totally tasty. Unfortunately, I completely forgot to take a picture of the finished product! Luckily, I had put half the recipe in the freezer for another day.

Last week there was a day where I had been working on projects all day and was totally exhausted. I also couldn't find anything in the fridge to make for dinner. After a little rummaging in the freezer, I found a packet of cooked turkey sausage and a bag of gnocchi and got to work. I made a fresh pesto with basil from the garden (like I did here), sautéed a red pepper, and tossed everything together, topped with a little parmesan cheese. The combination of flavors was a little unusual (I think it would have been better with sliced sausage instead of crumbled sausage) but on the whole, it was a tasty, quick meal!

Gnocchi
Smitten Kitchen

2 pounds Russet potatoes
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten

 Preheat your oven to 400°F. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork, and bake them on a baking sheet for 45 minutes to one hour, or until they are fork-tender. For best results, turn the potatoes over halfway through the baking time. Let the potatoes cool slightly. Peel the potatoes, and then pass them through a potato ricer, food mill or grate them over the large holes of a box grater into a large bowl. Add the lightly beaten egg and the salt to the potatoes and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the flour to the potatoes a little at a time, using only as much as you need so that the dough will not stick to your hands.

When the flour has been incorporated, bring the dough together with your fingertips. Dump the dough and any remaining floury bits onto a slightly floured surface. Knead the dough as you would bread dough. Press down and away with the heel of your hand, fold the dough over, make a quarter turn, and repeat the process. Knead for about three or four minutes. Form the dough into a ball and then divide it into 6 smaller balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the six pieces using your fingertips into a long rope about 3/4 inch thick. Cut the dough into 1 inch pieces.

You can cook the gnocchi as it is now, but traditional gnocchi has ridges. To create the ridges, press each piece of dough against the tines of a fork. With your finger, gently roll the pressed dough back off the fork. If you find the dough sticking to the fork, dip the fork in flour before you press the dough against it. Place the gnocchi in a single layer on a lightly floured or parchment-lined dish. If you’d like to freeze them for later use, do so on this tray and once they are frozen, drop them into a freezer bag. To cook the gnocchi, place them into a pot of boiling and well-salted water. After a few minutes the gnocchi will float to the top. Continue to cook for one minute then remove and set aside.

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