About a week ago, I found myself leafing through the Williams Sonoma Cookbook, looking for some recipes before my grocery trip. I stumbled upon this recipe for Gnocchi with Pesto, and figured, “Hey, we’ve got basil in the garden, pesto is springy, and I’m sure I can make gnocchi!” So on the list it went. Little did I know, Dayton would have a string of hot (HOT, like I’m not ready for that yet, HOT) days, and I would attempt to make gnocchi on one of them.

In the future, people, don’t make gnocchi on a hot day. You’ll thank me later. Let’s walk through the recipe, shall we?

This is the effortlessly beautiful basil that started this whole thing. The pesto was the easy part (feel free to do that on any day, regardless of temperature). The recipe is a classic pesto, using garlic, parmesan, basil, toasted pine nuts and olive oil. I used 1/2 the amount of oil and it turned out just fine (1/2 cup of oil just seemed ridiculous).

The finished pesto. Lovely and green, just garlicky enough. I threw it in the fridge, and then the real fun started.

I boiled the potatoes for 1/2 hour, let them cool, and then the skin peeled right off. You mash them up with some cheese, nutmeg and salt, and let it hang out for a sec (this is when I trimmed my beans).

After the potatoes sit, an egg and some flour are added to form a dough. Knead up the dough for a bit, and let it hang. Start a pot of water for boiling. This is when I started to get hot.

The next step is to cut the dough into six sections, roll each section into a rope, cut the rope into 1 inch pieces and roll the little pieces across a fork. When they’re all done (and the beans have taken a short dip in the boiling water), they’re ready to be dropped into the water for a short boil. This is when I got really hot.

So now the gnocchi is cooked, but not completely. They take a last trip into some butter (an amount which I also reduced, good grief, WS!) and then get tossed with the beans, cheese and pesto. At this point, I was tired and not completely sure this recipe was worth the work.. until I took a bite. These WS people really know what they’re doing with the gnocchi! The gnocchi was soft and creamy, the beans gave a little textural crunch, and the pesto was perfection. You could taste the cheese, garlic and basil, but nothing was overwhelming- all of the flavors were complementary.

I really want you to try this. Just make sure you don’t get too hot.

Gnocchi with Pesto
(from The Williams Sonoma Cookbook)
-makes 4 servings

kosher salt
1 1/2 lb russet potatoes, scrubbed (WS says 3, I used 5 to get to 1 1/2 lb)
1/2 cup plus 2 tbs freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (I didn’t use fresh, oops.)
1 large egg, beaten
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more as needed for rolling
6oz haricots verts or other slender green beans, trimmed
1/2 cup pesto (see recipe below)
6 tbs unsalted butter (I used 3 tbs)

To make gnocchi, in a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the unpeeled whole potatoes until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and let cool. Peel and place in a large bowl. Add the 2 tbs grated cheese, 1 1/4 tsp kosher salt and nutmeg and mash well with a potato masher (fork works too!). Let cool to lukewarm, mix in the egg and 1 cup of the flour.

Knead the dough, adding more flour 1 tbs at a time as needed, until a soft and sticky dough forms, about 3 minutes. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then divide into 6 equal portions. On a lightly floured surface, use your palms to roll each piece into a rope 3/4 inch thick. Cut the ropes into 1 inch pieces. To form the grooves that will hold the sauce, roll each piece over the tines of a large fork or down the length of a wire wisk.

In a large pot of generously salted boiling water, cook the beans until tender-crisp, about 3 minutes. Using a skimmer, transfer beans to a colander and drain.

In 2 batches, cook the gnocchi in the same pot of boiling water until just tender, stirring often to prevent sticking, about 5 minutes per batch. Use the skimmer to transfer to a baking sheet.

Put the pesto and 1/2 cup grated cheese into a large bowl. In a large frying pan, melt butter over medium high heat. Add the gnocchi and saute until heated through, 5 minutes. Add beans and toss for 1 minute. Transfer mixture to the bowl of pesto and cheese and toss to coat. Divide among 4 plates, serve at once.

Pesto
(from the Williams Sonoma Cookbook)

In a food processor, combine 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, 1 large clove of garlic, halved, 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Process until garlic is minced. Add 2 cups firmly packed basil leaves and 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts and process until the basil is finely ground. With, the motor running, gradually add 1/2 cup (I used 1/4 cup) olive oil and blend until almost smooth. Transfer to a small bowl, cover and refrigerate. To store for up to a week, spoon additional oil over the pesto to cover. Makes about 1/2 cup.