Gnocchi and Pesto  

A combination I'd been meaning to try for A Long Time (off the new Roots album Game Theory).

Pasta:
Whole wheat gnocchi made with sweet potato. Oil- and sea salt-ed boiling water, gnocchi to the bottom of the pot. Two minutes later, they come popping to the surface all ready to go into the pesto bowl. With the gnocchi-water still warm, I dropped some kidney beans into the pot to heat.

Pesto:
Perhaps not made like an Italian grandmother, but it turned out well enough. I started by finely chopping basil leaves, discarding the stems. I added some finely chopped garlic, drizzled olive oil and stirred. Then I hand-chopped some pine nuts, probably a mistake, added more oil, and stirred. It was too 'wet', so I added some dried basil leaves until the desired consistency was achieved, and rolled the hot gnocchi around in it.

Serving:
A spinach salad topped with a few sprigs of fresh cilantro, oil and vinegar dressing, topped with crumbled feta takes up about a third of the plate; the gnocchi and beans -also with the cheese - each have a little spot as well. Around the edge of the plate I also added a couple strawberries and some Mt. Rainier cherries that are absolutely delicious.

Result:
The flavors all worked fine together, although the gnocchi was a little too chewy. If I was doing it all over again, some hard cheese to finish the basil would have been nice and I could have used some tomato in the dish. I'll try again sometime with a different brand of gnocchi - though I wouldn't mind trying to make my own sometime...