Pea Gnocchi

Pea gnocchi are a tasty and colorful dish, perfect for bringing a breath of spring into your kitchen. Here’s how to prepare pea gnocchi the Italian way.

Ingredients

• 500 g of fresh or frozen peas
• 1 medium-sized potato
• 100 g of type 00 flour, plus more for the processing
• 1 egg
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Grated Parmesan cheese, to taste
• A pinch of nutmeg (optional)
• Butter and sage for dressing (or extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil)

Preparation

1. If using fresh peas, shell them. If your peas are frozen, make sure they are completely thawed.
2. Cook the potato in salted water until it becomes soft, then mash it into a purée.
3. Do the same for the peas: cook them in slightly salted water until they are soft, then drain and blend with a mixer to obtain a purée that’s not too liquid.
4. In a bowl, mix the pea and potato purée with the egg, salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg.
5. Gradually add the flour, until you achieve a homogeneous mixture that you can work with your hands, but be careful not to make the dough too hard.
6. On a floured surface, shape long cylinders and cut them into pieces to form gnocchi. If you wish, you can score them with a fork or with the special tool.
7. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the gnocchi until they float to the surface, which indicates that they are ready.
8. Meanwhile, in a large pan, melt some butter with sage leaves (or heat some extra virgin olive oil with fresh basil).
9. Drain the gnocchi and transfer them to the pan with butter and sage (or oil and basil), tossing gently to flavor them.
10. Serve hot with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese.

Trivia

Pea gnocchi are a fresh and spring-like variant of the classic Italian potato gnocchi dish. In Italy, each region has its own variants of gnocchi, and pea gnocchi represent one of the many delicious innovations that can be found on the peninsula. The bright color and sweet taste of peas give this dish a particularly cheerful note.