Purple Gnocchi and Pesto from Scratch

tl;dr: Scroll down for recipes!

Around the beginning of 2020, two of my friends and I decided to set aside a day every week (or so) where we would get together and cook dinner. Over the course of the couple of months what we made really evolved, from the initial, kind of failed tofu coconut scramble, to our final couple of dinners together before everyone kind of dispersed where we incorporated starters, mains and desserts, making things like bruschetta, tiramisu, and veggie Greek moussaka. As someone who's had an unhealthy relationship with food for such a big chunk of my life, these dinners really helped rebuild my appreciation for food and cooking, and view it as something positive that I enjoy, as opposed to simply just concerning myself with 'how many calories am I allowed for dinner'. I went back to actually enjoying and appreciating cooking and even made a food account, where I post a lot of my meals and little things I make.

Last night, for the first time in a while I put in the effort to actually make things from scratch, and attempted my first ever homemade gnocchi and pesto. Although I do admit, the gnocchi were quite a lot of effort (thank you Oveis for doing most of the hard work in kneading the dough), and the shapes weren't as aesthetic as ones you might see dispersed through instagram, but regardless I still felt quite proud and accomplished. See notes below the recipes for pairings and sides which I enjoyed.

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Classic Pesto Recipe

This is nothing new or never-done-before, but something about making it yourself and putting it into your own little jar makes it so much better than buying a jar of Barilla Pesto.

See notes below for things you can change up, and ways you could even vegan-ise it!

Ingredients:

• 50g pine nuts

• 100g basil

• 50g parmesan

• 140 mL olive oil

• 2 garlic gloves

Method

The method is honestly nothing special, I threw them all in the food processor part of my blender (I have the Braun MultiQuick 5 Vario Hand blender, because when I ordered it off Amazon it was reduced to £50). If however, you don't have a blender, chop the garlic and basil very very finely.

As finely as you possibly can; and grate the parmesan. Then mash and mix it all up in a bowl. This might take ages, and it might help to use a utensil which you can really squish everything down with, like a pestle. This will probably leave the pesto chunkier than if you were to use a blender, but then it'll just look all the more homemade.

Alternatives

Although I'm not vegan myself, I do admit a lot of my friends are and whether intentionally or by accident I do end up cooking plant based a lot of the time. If you want to vegan-ise this, substitute the parmesan for a vegan alternative, or even nutritional yeast to give it the creamy texture which cheese would normally have. I do have a pesto alternative recipe which is completely vegan, but that'll come some other time.

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Purple Gnocchi

I still remember when I was little and my dad and I lived in Kiev together, one of my favourite, simple comfort foods which he made me was simple potato gnocchi with pesto. I actually can't remember when the last time I had gnocchi was (excluding now), and rediscovering them, as well as finding out you can make gnocchi out of so many things, as opposed to just potato took me back to that time. So making my own take on this forgotten childhood comfort meal from scratch was so exciting.

What made the gnocchi (although not very well pictured) their light violet colour was substituting normal potatoes for purple potatoes. I have to admit, I did initially intend to use purple sweet potatoes, but couldn't find any. The purple potato didn't add any different taste or texture to the gnocchi, so this recipe works just the same with normal potatoes, but I did think the colour was pretty sick.

The gnocchi on their own are vegan, however I did pair them with my pesto, as well as some melted Gorgonzola + Mascarpone mix (separately, not together). However it is completely up to you how you have them, and there's so many things you could have them with and still keep it vegan: sautéed mushrooms, spinach, cashew sauce, et cetera.

Ingredients

• 5-6 purple potatoes (relatively small)

• 1/2 cup of cashew milk (any alternative works)

• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

• 2+ cups flour

• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Soak and scrub the potatoes in some cold water before peeling them. I don't really know how dimensions work, but chop them in half and then the halves into threes

2. Add to a saucepan, cover with cold water, bring that to a boil and cook for 15-20 minutes (until fork tender)

3. Drain them and add them to a mixing bowl, along with the milk. Use a potato masher thingy to mash them until they're very smooth. Check for chunks.

4. Add the nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Mix well. I added one tsp salt and about 1.5 tsp pepper, because I like a more pepper-y flavour, personally.

5. Gradually add the 2 cups of flour, now using your hands to incorporate it. This is tricky, because the amount of flour depends on so many things. So basically, keep adding flour until you feel like the consistency is no longer too sticky, and feels like dough.

6. Let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes.

7. Transfer the dough from the mixing bowl onto a floured surface, and cut it into 4 chunks.

8. Roll each part into strands and then cut the strands into your desired gnocchi sizes. This was my first time doing this, so to be completely honest my shapes and sizes were all over the place. If you feel more comfortable, and like the consistency of your dough can take it, try this technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekeUK1UevuA

9. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil, and boil them until they rise to the surface.

10. Once they're boiled, brush them with some olive oil and bake for about 15 minutes (they'll be crispy). Oven settings: 180C, fan and overhead heat. You can either choose to melt the cheese on top of them in the oven, or melt it separately and dip them in.