Homemade Gnocchi

During my stay in Menaggio, my wonderful hostel was offering cooking lessons. What a crime if you didn't partake! The menu for the day was homemade potato dumplings called Gnocchi and hand-ground basil leaves, among other ingredients, that make up Pesto. For dessert we created individual Tiramisu plates. I've made the recipes a few times since being home, loving each every time. Be ready to get your hands (and kitchen) messy. First up... gnocchi.

Gnocchi Ingredients:
- 12 white potatoes
- flour (you will estimate this!)
- olive oil to taste
- salt to taste

Boil the peeled white potatoes on the stove top in salted water. Make sure they remain somewhat firm, but cooked during this process. (And to note, save your salted water for your pesto!) Place on a large cutting board and mash with a potato masher, much like the example in the picture.

Now comes the tricky part... flour. Begin kneading a little flour at a time to the mashed potatoes.  Here's a quick how-to. To know you've added enough flour, note the dough should not stick to your hands, creating a solid base of dough. Like I said, definitely not a science!

Next, take the dough and begin cutting strips, carefully rolling each strip out into a long string. When the string reaches about .5" diameter, take a knife and cut into 1" pieces. Place the pieces aside and lightly cover with flour.

Continue rolling and cutting down until the loaf is gone. You can decorate your gnocchi by rolling a fork overtop, creating a cross in the middle, anything you like! Boil in water and olive oil until the pieces of gnocchi float to the top (maybe 5 minutes?).

Next up... pesto!