This recipe comes from Chef Marla Monzo-Holmes, who goes by “Marla the Chef in Red.” She has been teaching cooking classes for 25 years. Chef Marla has taught how to prepare many dishes, but her favorite recipes are those that her Nonna Elisa DiCaprio passed down to her. She also teaches students how to make other ethnic recipes, such as Hungarian Nut Roll and French Macarons.

Marla attended cooking school at the Scuola di Cucina Lorenzo de’ Medici-Firenze (Lorenzo Di Medici School of Cooking in Florence, Italy). To learn more about Marla check out her website: www.marlathechefinred.com. She offers both in-person and virtual cooking classes.

Gnocchi di Milano

This recipe is by Mrs. Victoria Porcelli, who is from Piedimonte d’Alife, a small Italian village near Naples where Chef Marla’s maternal grandparents also once lived. “I hope you will enjoy this recipe! I had been making the regular potato gnocchi for years. Once I got this recipe I never went back! I have taught this recipe to well over 100 people and they all love it,” Chef Marla exclaimed to us. Buon appetito!

Ingredients

4 c flour

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp salt

1 c grated Parmesan cheese

2 (15 oz.) containers of ricotta cheese

2 tbsp softened butter

2 egg yolks

Directions

1. Mix dry ingredients together. Set aside. Combine Ricotta, butter and egg yolks. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl with a wooden spoon or in a mixer until a dough forms.
2. Form the dough into a ball. Cut the ball into 4 pieces and then divide the pieces. Roll the pieces onto a floured board into tubes about the width of a cigar. Cut into ½- to 1-inch pieces and use a gnocchi board or a fork to make the lines on each gnocchi. (Please note many restaurants today do not take the time to make the lines on the gnocchi but traditional gnocchi have the lines, and it holds the sauce better).
3. Place the gnocchi onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cook immediately by dropping into boiling water that has been lightly salted and has 1 tbsp of olive oil added to it. When the gnocchi floats to the top it is fully cooked.
4. If you are not cooking right away, you can place the gnocchi on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer. Once the gnocchi freezes (about 30 minutes later), you can then bag it into a zip lock bag that has been lightly floured.

 

Butter Sage Sauce for the Gnocchi di Milano

Amazing, flavorful sauce that will add a warm, sophisticated taste to your pasta.

Ingredients

1 stick of butter or more to taste

5-7 fresh, whole sage leaves

(May use dried sage if you cannot get the fresh leaves.)

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

½ tsp salt

1 c hot water from the cooking pot of your pasta

Directions

Melt butter in pan, then add salt and sage leaves. Let cook on low heat until butter is melted, and flavors have combined. Add 1 c pasta water and stir. Serve over your gnocchi.

 

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