Easy Homemade Gnocchi

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Easy Homemade Gnocchi do not compromise taste.  This recipe brings an Italian favourite to your table withe ease.  I could eat these little potato puffs every day of the week. Enjoy the gnocchi with a savoury or sweet sauce.

My nonna made a lot of gnocchi in Italy and Canada. We spent the whole morning making them, and then she would freeze them.  I remember the whole table full of gnocchi.  My favourite sauce was her Calabrese tomato made with pork, veal and beef.  The meat fell apart and the aroma filled the neighbourhood.  She used few ingredients, but the oregano and garlic were the stars of the dish.

Calabrese gnocchi have a little bite to them; they are denser and not as fluffy as their northern counterparts.  Her dough was always smooth, soft and a little sticky.  She always used Yukon Gold Potatoes for the best gnocchi dough.  Gnocchi are simply made with potatoes and flour.  In the south we don’t add eggs to our gnocchi.  The traditional recipe uses boiled potatoes and then the  potatoes are peeled and riced.

Today I take a short cut and the results are good.  I use potato flakes, water and flour.  The dough comes together easily.  I use a special gnocchi basket that makes little grooves in the gnocchi.  My uncles Danielle, Rolando and Guido were basket weavers in Figline Vegliaturo.  They were amazing at their craft.

The Potato flakes with the water wait to cool.

Add the flour and mix with a fork.

Roll dough onto the counter and knead.

The dough is soft, smooth and a little sticky.

Flour a tray and assemble your tools.

I roll the dough into little logs.

These little pillows are fluffy and cut easily.

I have my special little gnocchi rolling basket from Italy.  If you don’t have one, use the back of a fork.

These baskets are a real treat to have. My mom’s friend gave me this one in Figline Vegliaturo a few years ago.

Ready to cook or for the freezer.

With my mom’s friends and some relatives in my hometown of Figline Vegliaturo in Calabria, Italy.  My mom’s friend Artemia sitting in the chair beside me gave me her gnocchi basket to take home.

Walnut butter Pasta Sauce

Walnut Butter Pasta Sauce proves that sauce does not have to be complicated.  You will have supper ready in 30 minutes and it will be better and healthier than take-out.

One of my favourite dishes growing up was pasta with butter and parmesan; it is still one of my favourite go-to dishes.  I decided to add walnuts to this dish to thicken the sauce, give it another level of flavour and because walnuts are good for you.  Walnuts are amongst the world’s healthiest foods.  http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=99

My nonno Salvatore would take two walnuts and squeeze them together in one hand to break them.  I enjoyed eating walnuts with bread as a snack; it was the best.  My mother played with walnuts as a child; they didn’t have much toys growing-up and they would often use walnuts and hazelnuts as marbles.  They would draw numbers on the ground and then everyone would throw their walnut and see where it landed.  The numbers were added up at the end of the game and a winner was declared;  the winner going home with all the walnuts.  Simple times, simple games and simple delicious recipes.

The butter, garlic and olive oil go into the pan, followed by the peppers.

I like to chop the walnuts with a knife; leave some larger chunks.

Make a little hot spot in the centre of the pan, once the peppers are soft.  This allows the walnuts room to toast.

The peppers and walnuts blend well together.

Little work, but big taste.

Shake Shake Pasta

My Shake Shake Pasta is dedicated to The Jerry Cans; it is Juno night in Canada and we want something good but fast.  The Jerry Cans shook up the music industry with their unique style of music which includes throat singing and now have their own record label.  They are nominated for Breakthrough Group of the Year and Contemporary Roots Album of the Year for their album, Inuusiq. Many of the group members and their families have eaten pasta at my table and I am very excited for them today.

Shake shake Pasta comes from the fresh tomatoes shaked in the frying pan with olive oil, garlic and oregano. This is the simplest, but tastiest pasta. On your table in less than 30 minutes.

Lucky to live in Southern Ontario

Living in greenhouse country, I am lucky to enjoy a variety of fruits and vegetables all year-long.  These cherry tomatoes come in a variety of shapes and colours. I think of all the years I lived in the Arctic of Canada and couldn’t get fresh vegetables. The tomatoes are aromatic, plump and juicy.  The sauce won’t need much else.   

The secret to this sauce is letting the olive oil infuse with the garlic and oregano first.  I keep it on medium low.  Don’t ever burn your garlic; my garlic is chunky so that I can remove it when I dress the pasta.  

The tomatoes are so pretty and I just want to eat them as is with some bread.  Sometimes I do eat them this way.

You can see that the sauce is thickening.  I don’t stir the sauce, I shake the pan because I don’t want to bruise the tomatoes.  That is where this dish gets its name.

The sauce meets the pasta and it is heaven.

All I add is a little cheese and black pepper.