Being Italian, I thought it was high time to learn how to make pasta from scratch. Although, with it being just after the holidays I can’t afford a pasta attachment. The next best thing? Hands! The second best thing? Pairing it with our homemade red sauce (or gravy, or whatever you want to call it). Pour yourself a nice glass of Chianti, turn up your best Italian Pandora station and get to it!

• 2 russet potatoes
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt

(that’s LITERALLY all you need!)

Peel the two potatoes while bringing a pot of water to boil. Boil the potatoes for about 30-40 minutes or until tender enough to mash. In a bowl, mash the potatoes until completely smooth. (I made the mistake of not mashing them enough the first time and the chunks create air pockets in the dough.) Once you have some smooth potatoes, add in the flour, egg, and salt until a dough begins to form. Kneed it until completely blended, but is still a little sticky. (Add a dab of water if it gets too dried out.) Take a fist size chunk of the dough and roll it into a long thin rope. Cut it into 1/2″ to 1″ pieces.

If you want to get fancy, with fork tines, make small indents in the pieces (another great fancy tip is adding a pinch of dried rosemary or chopped chives, both pair super well with gnocchi or any potato based dish). Boil another pot of water with a dash of salt in it and drop in the gnocchi pieces. You’ll know it’s done when the gnocchi starts to float to the top. In the words of Frankie Sinatra, now that’s amore!

Happy Eating, XO.