Potato Gnocchi with Pesto

Potato Gnocchi recipe from Milk Street.

Ingredients:

Pesto:

• Bag of fresh spinach (about 6 oz.)
• 1 garlic clove
• Parmesan Cheese or Pecorino Romano Cheese (about 1-inch x 2-inch piece, cut into 3 or 4 pieces)
• Handful of nuts (about 1/2 c. – I generally use pecans, but you can use any nut you like)
• 2 large handfuls of fresh basil
• Extra virgin olive oil (about 2 TBSP)
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Reserved potato gnocchi water (about 1/2 c.) to thin

Potato Gnocchi:

• 2 c. instant potato flakes
• 2 c. boiling water
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 c. flour, plus more for dusting
• Kosher salt and ground black pepper
• Finely grated pecorino Romano cheese, to serve

Directions:

Hydrate the Instant Potatoes: In a large bowl, stir the potato flakes and water. Let stand until completely cooled.

Pesto: Add the spinach, garlic clove, parmesan cheese, and nuts to a standard sized food processor and process until you have enough space to add the basil. If you can’t fit all the spinach in at once, process what you can until you have space to add the remaining spinach. 

Then add the basil and the salt and pepper and process until everything is finely chopped (no large pieces of parmesan cheese remain and nuts are chopped). 

Slowly drizzle in the olive oil.  Add enough olive oil so that pesto mixture is just coming together.  The consistency is not sauce like at this point (more like finely chopped ingredients) and it should be quite thick with no visible amounts of oil. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Set aside.

Potato Gnocchi Dough: Once instant potatoes are cooled, mix in the eggs, flour and 1 tsp. salt until a dough forms. Lightly dust the counter with flour and turn the dough out onto it. Gently knead until smooth.

Shape Potato Gnocchi: Dust a rimmed baking sheet with flour. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and cover with a kitchen towel. Roll one piece into a rope 18 inches long and ¾-inch in diameter. Cut into ½-inch pieces and lightly dust with flour. Transfer the gnocchi to the baking sheet, spacing them so they don’t touch and sprinkle tops with a bit of flour so they don’t stick. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Add Pesto to Serving Bowl: Add pesto to a large serving bowl.

Cook Potato Gnocchi: In a large pot, boil 4 quarts water. Add 1 TBSP salt and half the gnocchi. Return to a boil, stirring once or twice; cook for 2 minutes (the gnocchi will float before they are done).

Add Gnocchi to Pesto: When the first batch of gnocchi is done, use a slotted spoon to remove the gnocchi and add the gnocchi to the bowl with the pesto. Return the water to a boil, then repeat with the remaining gnocchi. Reserve 1/4 c. of the cooking water. Add the reserved water, 1/8 c. at a time, and toss the gnocchi. If the pesto is still too thick, you can add more reserved pasta water until you reach your desired consistency. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with additional cheese.