First Experience: Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Kale-Walnut Pesto

Gnocchi is a delicious rustic pasta that I've never tried to make before now. I love to order it at fancy Italian restaurants and saw a recipe for a whole wheat ricotta version, I thought, why not? Plus, trying to say gnocchi is always fun. Traditional pesto is delicious on gnocchi, but since fresh basil isn't around this time of year and pine nuts are uncomfortably expensive, I found a great alternative: kale, parsley, and walnuts! This came out really well, and will only need a few tweeks. I would and will definitely make fresh gnocchi again: It was easy and I've found other recipes for whole wheat potato and whole wheat sweet potato gnocchi--YUM!

Serves:

2 

Ingredients:

Gnocchi:

• about 1 cup of whole wheat
• 1/3 cup finely grated parmigiano reggiano
• 1 cup lowfat ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Kale-Walnut Pesto:

• 1 cup parsley
• 2 cups stemmed kale
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/8-1/4 cup lemon juice (to your taste preference)

Cooking:

1. Beat the egg and stir in the ricotta cheese and parmigiana reggiano. Slowly mix in the flour, until you have a workable dough. I used a little more than a cup of flour.

2. Take a small handful of the dough and roll it into a long dough-snake (I'm not sure of the technical term here), about the diameter of a dime, on a floured surface. Cut the dough-snake into 1 inch pieces. Press a fork onto the top of it so that the grooves show. Re-form the dough if it ends up looking too squished. Put the pasta-pillows on a plate and set in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.

3. Set a large pot of water to boil, adding just a pinch of sea salt.

4. Put your kale, parsley, and garlic in your food processor and blend. Add the olive oil and lemon juice and blend again. Add the walnuts and blend just a little more. Taste and season.

5. When your water is boiling, gently drop your gnocchi into the water. They will sink straight to the bottom. When the gnocchi is cooked, it will begin to float to the top.

6. Heat a large pan with your Tbsp of olive oil. As the gnocchi floats at the top, scoop it out with a slotted spoon or basket and throw into the pan to brown. Stir the gnocchi constantly to prevent sticking. When it is golden brown, put portions into shallow bowls. Put the desired amount of pesto on top. Then top with a little bit more parmigiano reggiano on top, if desired.

7. Enjoy.

Notes:

• For fresh pasta, gnocchi is the way to go! I found it to be SO EASY! Simple and rustic by nature, it is hard to go wrong. Many people dislike whole wheat pasta, but with the creaminess of the ricotta, this gnocchi was delicious.
• I love traditional pesto made with basil- it's hard to imagine any substitute. However, parsley and kale did the trick! The garlic and olive oil take center stage and the kale adds the earthy green taste. The lemon adds a nice brightness, also. I originally threw the walnuts in with the kale, but it blended down too fine and we lacked the texture of the nuts. So I re-wrote the recipe to add them last and hopefully preserve some of the texture.
• This gnocchi would be good with any other sauce you prefer...I'm thinking pink sauce, though that would be for a VERY special occasion. 

If you want to try making a fresh, whole wheat pasta, give this gnocchi a go! It was SO easy. Nothing to be intimidated by! Let me know how yours turns out!

-Carly