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My brother has been asking me to teach him how to make Pasta for ages now, our schedules just have not allowed for us to get together for a pasta day... we ended up having beers on the beach instead, I am not complaining. We going into season in the kitchen now  so when I am finished a long shift Italian is always my turn to meal for something quick and delicious. So I started working on some recipes to teach my brother so long and here they are.

Home Made Gnocchi with Basil Pesto

There are recipes that use egg and some recipes don't it's because in Veneto they use egg and in Piedmont they don't so it really depends who wrote the recipe but both ways work, I used egg this time.

serves 4
1kg potatoes
2 large eggs
350g flour ( approx, oo flour may be used)
1/2 tsp salt
100ml basil pesto ( I used pesto princess)
30 ml extra virgin olive oil
100ml grated parmesan

Bake the potatoes on 180° c for an hour or until cooked through, baking is better as the potato is dryer.
Scoop the potato from the skin and mash then push through a sieve twice, working quickly so the potato stays hot.

In a bowl, add the egg and salt to taste. The flour is also added by eye but as little as possible must be added, kneading very lightly and quickly to bring the dough together.

Roll into long thin sausages and cut depending how large you want your gnocchi to be as picture above.

Using the back of a fork, roll the gnocchi over the fork creating lines along the one side to help the sauce stick.

Meanwhile bring some salted water to the boil.

When you have shaped all your gnocchi, place gently in the simmering water, when they rise to the top they are ready, remove with a slotted spoon and enjoy.

Toss with any sauce, I used pesto and olive oil.

They may also be fried with sage butter and parmesan.

Broccoli, chilli and anchovy Orecchiette

This is so salty, tasty and addictive from the anchovies, even if you are not a fan you will love this pasta, its fresh and quick to make unless you shape your own Orecchiette which is a pasta from Puglia, the word means small ears, I used the De Cecco brand but will show you in a future post how to shape it.

serves 2

1/2 pk De Cecco Orecchiette
1/2 head broccoli, broken into florets
10ml olive oil blend for frying
1 chilli ,chopped
10 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 medium garlic clove, finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
squeeze of lemon
parmesan

Bring a pot of water to the boil, blanch the broccoli for 2 minutes, remove from the water and refresh in ice water to keep the colour a vivid green.

Boil the pasta in the same water as per packet directions but add salt to the water.

Strain the water and pasta. In the same pot, add the oil blend and fry the chillies, anchovies and garlic. When the garlic is cooked add the broccoli and the pasta. Season and drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive oil and a squeeze of lemon, serve with grated parmesan.

Recipes and pictures Copyright by Tamsyn Wells