Potato Gnocchi With Pesto Sauce

Learn how to make homemade Genovese-style potato gnocchi with pesto sauce (Gnocchi di patate alla Genovese).

Ingredients for 6 persons:

• 4 lb. 6 oz. potatoes
• 5 cups flour
• 9 cloves garlic
• basil
• pine nuts
• salt
• grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• extra-virgin olive oil
• grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan) cheese

Instructions:

1. Boil the potatoes, remove the skins and mash them. Let them cool and then work in the flour to make a dough. Divide the dough into pieces and roll out each piece into a tube with the circumference of a finger.
2. Cut each roll into pieces, each about 3/4 inch long. Rapidly roll each piece on a dough-board, make a slight indentation in the surface of each and place the pieces on a floured towel.
3. Prepare the pesto. Roughly chop the garlic, pine nuts and a large bunch of basil leaves, add a pinch of salt and pound the mixture in a mortar or put it in a blender. Add the grated Pecorino Romano, a bit at a time, and blend in the olive oil little by little and in sufficient quantity to obtain a smooth, creamy sauce.
4. Fill a large pot with water, add salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook the gnocchi a few at a time, removing them with a skimmer or slotted spoon as soon as they pop to the surface of the water.
5. Drain them well and arrange the gnocchi in layers in a soup bowl. Spread some of the pesto, diluted with a bit of the cooking water, over each layer along with a great deal of grated Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Cuisine: Italian
Cook time: 35 minutes