Gnocchi Al Pesto

Nothing will beat serving your own homemade basil pesto with some freshly made potato gnocchi! These pillowy gnocchi are a proper comfort food and they pair perfectly with the light basil pesto. The process of making this whole dish is easy, fun and therapeutic to do and a winner every single time. You have to give it a try. 

Serves 2

Ingredients

For the gnocchi

• 500g of old or starchy potatoes 
• 1 whole medium egg
• 175g 00 flour plus extra for dusting
• 40g grated Grana Padano cheese (optional)  

For the basil pesto

• 30g basil, leaves picked and stalk discarded
• 60ml extra virgin olive oil 
• 30g pine nuts, lightly toasted 
• 1 garlic clove, skin removed  
• 50g grated Grana Padano cheese 
• A touch of lemon juice

Methods

1. To make the gnocchi, start by washing the potatoes well then arrange them in a large pot and cover with plenty of cold water. Turn the heat up to high and from the moment the water starts boiling, boil for about 30-40 minutes, depending on their size. You know they are ready when you poke the potatoes with a fork and the tines enter without difficulty. Drain the potatoes and set them aside to cool down for 5 minutes. 
2. Place the flour onto a clean table surface and make a large well in the middle. While still hot, take the skin off the potatoes and rice them directly in the middle of the well. Crack the egg in the middle, add a pinch of salt and grated cheese (if using). 
3. Using a fork, mix the ingredients together, start with the egg in the middle and working out towards the edges. Now using a bench scraper or spatula, start incorporating the flour from the sides and continue to mix it all together. Then go in with your hands, squeezing and kneading the mixture gently to bring it all together and create a nice soft dough. 
4. As soon as the dough comes together and there's no more flour, shape it into a round ball and stop working it. If you carry on kneading it will become quite sticky and you'll end up adding more and more flour. 
5. Dust the worktable and the dough and with flour and cut the dough in half. Gently roll each piece into a one to two centimetres rope. If it's getting too long and hard to shape, cut it in half again and work with one rope at the time. Dusting the table with more flour as you work, cut each rope into into small pieces about two centimetres thick.  This is your gnocchi. 
6. If you want, you can keep the gnocchi just like this or you can form their iconic shape by rolling each one down the gnocchi board, using your thumb to press gently, creating ridges on one side and a dimple on the other. If you don't have a gnocchetti board, you can use the back of a fork to achieve a similar shape. Or you can just roll them into small balls and poke them in the centre with your finger to create a dent that will hold the sauce nicely. Once they're all shaped, gently transfer them on a board or tray and leave them aside for later.
7. To make the pesto, add the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, a pinch of salt and a touch of lemon juice to a blender and blitz until smooth. Add a few tablespoon of ice cold water to help to blitz the sauce if needed. Add the grated cheese and blitz again until a thick pesto has formed. Taste and adjust the seasoning. 
8. Cook your gnocchi in plenty of salted boiling water for around 2-3 minutes or as soon as they start to float to the surface. Using a slotted spoon transfer them directly to a large serving bowl. 
9. Add the pesto to the cooked gnocchi and give it a good stir until the pesto coats all of the pasta creating a creamy sauce. The heat from the gnocchi will warm up the pesto. 
10. Don't waste any of the pesto from the mixer - rinse it with a few tablespoons of the gnocchi water and stir it into the gnocchi.  If the sauce is too thick feel free to add a splash more of the gnocchi water to loosen it.  Enjoy! 

Watch the recipe video

Back to recipes