COUNTRY COOKING: ITALY

knee-yo-ki. Seriously, I mispronounce this dish every time I say it. And it when I say it, it definitely does NOT sound Italian. It comes out sounding more like a Chinese dish. Either way, gnocchi is an Italian dish - and it is amazing! One of my favorite things about it is that I did not have to go find a specialty Italian market to find the ingredients... I had them all in my kitchen! And although it is common ingredients, the recipe creates a flavor and texture profile like no other pasta I've had before.
I sifted through a lot of recipes, and I went for the most traditional recipe I could find, here.

Food is personal, cultural, lives and breathes, and tells a story. So I wanted to be sure to make the recipe using the same methods most Italians (...that I could find documented online at least ;) ) use.

I am not going to lie - the process was kind of tedious... and honestly theres a much easier way to go about it. Nonetheless, I kneaded, rolled, and "tined" those potatoes into little pasta pellets the old-fashioned way.

Once the gnocchi finished cooking in the water, I chose to brown mine in butter over the skillet. I then tossed it in pesto, added some fresh basil,  salt and pepper to taste, and done!

Now that I have gone through the "experience", and if you don't care much for the food prep experience there are a couple time saving (and mess-saving) things you can do differently.

1. I know the recipe says not to do this (...but I've watched many master chefs do this): use a food processor or blender! After the potatoes cool take the skin off and throw the potatoes, flour, and 1 egg (for binding) into the blender. Don't over blend it; blend just enough to get all the lumps out.

2. Pour from blender into a pastry bag (or plastic bag) and cut a hole at bottom corner. Hold bag over the boiling water, squeeze, and use butter knife to cut into little pasta pellets.

Then brown or toss in you sauce of choice!

I hope we aren't the only ones who enjoy cooking and tasting new international recipes for the experience. It feels beautiful and historical - like we are educating ourselves to be aware of something much bigger.

I do believe in the idea that food is just fuel for the body - and typically people who believe this don't share such a romantic view of food. Over the years I have seen how the culture of food can be praised and be completely abused. I think that is why I am so drawn to the history of recipes around the world (with real, fresh ingredients!). Historically, people didn't abuse food the way we do now - whether through artificial ingredients or over sized portions. And I can only hope that one day soon I am able to teach Bentleigh about the art of eating, creating, and appreciating real, culturally diverse foods.

If you missed our Spanish or  Japanese dishes, be sure to check them out!

Enjoy!