Labor Day Gnocchi

After noticing the other day how many potatoes I've been collecting from each and every trip to the farmers market and CSA pick up, I decided it would be fun to make gnocchi. So with the prospect of a "free" day today, and with enough nesting/crazed cleaning finished up to allow for lengthy fun time in the kitchen, I set about to do just that.

local flour + local potatoes = local gnocchi

Except that the first recipe for gnocchi that I found said something really encouraging like "everything could go wrong," and that made me feel a little bit daunted. Like maybe I should stick to making something I know - just roast those potatoes and be done with it. But Sergio - always more fearless in the kitchen than me - said, "No, let's make the gnocchi. It'll be fine!" And you know what? He was right?

Labor Day gnocchi!

This was the recipe that he found. Super simple. Only two ingredients. Totally accessible. And it totally worked. Granted, it was a lot of work from start to finish - so many steps for so few ingredients. But so fun at each stage of the process.

balls of gnocchi dough, trying to resemble potatoes

step ? in the laborious multi-step gnocchi-forming process

almost done!

Our cute little gnocchis were maybe a little soft and with our whole wheat pasta they were definitely heartier than others. But I was really pleased that they didn't turn out too dense, as some gnocchi are prone to do, landing in one's belly with a resounding thud.

our first batch of gnocchi rising to the occasion

These little "lumps" (the meaning of the Italian word "gnocchi") took well to the pesto sauce we made with lots of last year's frozen pesto ice cubes. With a sprinkling of 'deconstructed pesto' on top (parmesan, salt, pine nuts, and fresh basil), our first-run, whole-wheat, mostly-local Labor Day gnocchi was complete!

pesto, pesto gnocchi

We had Christy and Armando and the kids over for dinner - they were our willing guinea pig guests. This morning when we measured out our pound and a half of potatoes, we had decided it seemed a little paltry. So we doubled the recipe. Of course we now have a whole big batch of leftover gnocchis in the freezer. I'm looking forward to eating them again.