Hello Everyone! I hope this new post finds you all well,after enjoying your holiday (or surviving it) and looking forward to a kick A$$ New Year! I haven’t written in awhile and I just want to send a special Thank You to each of these CTB girls. The few weeks leading up to the holidays were especially challenging this year, and to be honest I kind of fell off the face of the universe. I haven’t even sent out Holiday Cards (yet). I know we are all very busy and it is no excuse, but with everything so hectic it was so nice to check in and see this awesome blog take on a life of its own. It has been wonderful to know that each of these girls and I were somehow connected through the literary or the culinary, even if I couldn’t be as present as I would have liked. I look forward to beginning a New Year, a New Book and continuing our New friendship in the coming months.

That being said…New Years are all about resolutions aren’t they? The past few years my resolutions have been pretty consistent (keep in touch with people more, lose a few pounds…the usual). But I recently read somewhere of a girl who made a list of all of the things that scared her, and vowed to do at least 5 by the year’s end. I loved it! I mean, I know I have a lot of things to improve, but will I really be all that better off next year with a few pounds off my buttox…I think not! So, I have begun my own list, number 12 on that list is “make homemade pasta”, with number 13 a close second.. “make home made gnocchi”. We had all agreed to make Giulia Melucci’s No Nookie Gnocchi, so I figured there would be no getting out of it. With the whirlwind of these past few weeks I will be honest, I did try and think of a few ways to get out of this endeavor but after feeling a bit rested (thanks to my cousin doing the holiday this year) I decided to take it on for my families Sunday Pasta.

Prior to making Giulia’s Gnocchi and reading Marilla and Brianne’s posts I searched high and low for some gnocchi recipes and with the help of Giulia, Silver Spoon, and Alessio Pesucci http://italianfood.about.com/od/gnocchi/r/blr1805.htm I came up with somewhat of a different concoction. My favorite Gnocchi is made at Cannanau in NYC, it is this awesome light airy gnocchi in a fabulous white truffle cream sauce. I don’t particularly care for tomato sauce (I know, I know, I am Italian how can I say that, but c’mon Tomatoes versus cream and butter….helllloooooo!) So I wanted to try and re-create a similar dish. Here is how it went…

Matt and I went to Stop N Shop in search of “russett potatoes”, which they did not have. Personally, I dont see the difference between these and baking, but I didn’t want to regret the russett, so we searched a bit more until I wound up with a 5 pound bag of russet potatoes (lets just say we will be eating a lot o’ potatoes in my house this month). Then I went in search of something with “white truffle”. We had to go to the mall anyway, so I thought Williams and Sonoma would be a great place to start. It was, they had truffle butter and truffle oil…but each was more than 30 bucks, which, Im sorry gnocchi, but that is steep. I definately weighed the option of “do I need this versus do I want this” way longer than I should have, but I opted out. As we were driving home and I was trying to figure out how to mimick the taste of white truffle, Matt figured we could check out Wild by Nature and low and behold they had white truffle olive oil for 7.99! Score! So with ingredients in hand, four cookbooks spread out and my lap top with epicurious and food network on call, Matt and I went to it. Marilla and Brianne posted Giulia’s Gnocchi already so I wont repost that…this is what I eventually wound up with…

for the gnocchi

4 potatoes (I actually started with 5 potatoes, but i dropped 1 1/2 on the floor…abby got to it before I could try and salvage!)

1 1/2 C. flour (plus more as needed)

1 egg

2 shakes nutmeg

1 pinch salt

Boil the potatoes until fork pierces with a knife (about 30 minutes), remove from water and allow to cool (I did not do this), peel the potatoes and pass through a food mill (again, I didnt have a food mill and I read that the small part of the cheese grater would work, but I got fustrated and went strait for the fodd processor, pulsing a few times)

spread the potatoe out, and mix in flour and egg, kneading gently until blended and not sticky (add flour as needed). cut dough into fourths and roll each piece into a long rope. cut the rope into one each pieces. gently press fork into gnocchi and place on baking sheet. Boil and salt 5 quarts water. Add the gnocchi to boiling water at about 10 at a time, when they float to the top remove to a collander. repeat until all gnocchi are cooked. toss with sauce.

Creamy Truffle sauce with shallots and Tomato (this I totally made up as I went along, so some of the measurements are approximate)

4 Tbs. butter

3 Tbs. Olive oil (I actually used 1/3 Cup but the sauce was a bit oily)

3 garlic cloves, sliced

1 shallot, diced

4 tomatoes, cored and diced

2 Cups of heavy whipping cream, plus extra as needed

1/2 C. locatelli cheese (or parmesan)

“olive oil infused with white truffle” (2 tsp plus more as needed)

4 sage leaves

salt

pepper

Heat 2 Tbs. of butter and 3 Tbs. olive oil in large sauce pan over med-high heat. when bubbly add sage leaves and garlic. allow to brown and remove (save for later). Add shallots and simmer for 1-2 minutes. add diced tomatoes, salt and pepper and allow to simmer for 2 minutes. add two cups of cream and locatelli cheese, return sage and garlic and bring to a boil. In the meantime mix truffle oil with last two tbs. butter until smooth. once sauce boils, return to a simmer. add gnocchi. simmer for 5 minutes. check for consistency, add cream if needed (i added about 1/8 cup extra). add butter and truffle oil mix and stir in. I felt it needed more truffil oil so I drizzled some in at this point. allow to simmer a few more minutes. turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes (uncovered) before serving.

I am not gonna lie…this was AWESOME. For several reasons…I actually mastered making gnocchi…until you have handled a hot potatoe and manipulted them into deliciously puffy little gnocchi you cannot understand the joy this brings! I couldn’t believe I really did it! Second, I attempted my own little sauce recipe and it was actually really good. My brother said it was “restaurant quality”, and I agreed with him! and 3) Matt and I actually did a lot of this together, and it was great to share something I love with him. He made broccoli raab to go as a side (which was also awesome). The two of us claimed our places in the kitchen and just had a great time trying to make something good happen. It was so relaxing having him there, I didnt even freak out  (that much) when I dropped a potato and a half!

This was a great way to end out very first book, I loved, I lost, I made Spaghetti. I (again) thank each of these CTB girls, and Giulia for being such an incredibly supportive first author. I also felt like we would be friends if we knew each other, but I am grateful to the new friends she has helped bring into my life.  She will always have a very special spot in the hearts of the CTB group as well as in my kitchen. I also thank Matthew for being so supportive of this process. There is nothing better than dropping  potatoes on the floor and having the man you love say “its okay, you can use it, Ill eat it anyway”…if that ain’t love I dont what is. I am very much looking forward to starting the new year with “Garlic and Sapphires” and I cannot wait to see what is down the road for Cooking the Books!

In the mean time…I better finish that New Years List….where is my left over gnocchi?