Gnocchi!

So these awesome friends of mine will realize how far behind I am at blogging, because this wonderful adventure happened a while ago! Erin and Katie came over and we had a fun girl's night making gnocchi. They turned out really good! It took a little work, so it was nice having three sets of hands to work on everything. We made two sauces to go with them- a brown butter sage sauce and a Parmesan sauce with bacon and walnuts. I'll include the recipe for the second one since that was my favorite!

Erin and Katie expertly rolling out and cutting gnocchi

Browned butter sage sauce

Parmesan, bacon and walnut sauce

A recipe and directions for gnocchi and browned butter sage sauce can be found here on Serious Eats. You could probably use either sauce on pasta if you don't want to go to all the effort of making gnocchi. Do you like cooking with friends?

Parmesan, Bacon and Walnut Sauce

adapted from Cooks Illustrated

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 large egg yolks

1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated (1/2 cup)

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 ounces finely chopped bacon (the original recipe called for pancetta)

1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Salt

Cook the bacon in a 12 inch skillet with the oil until browned and crisp about 6-8 minutes. Meanwhile, combine broth, cream, yolks, Parmesan, and pepper in a bowl to make a smooth mixture. After the bacon is crisp, add the walnuts and cook for a minute more until fragrant. Remove the skillet from heat and whisk constantly while adding the broth mixture. Return to heat and cook for 2 to 4 more minutes until somewhat thickened. Serve with gnocchi or pasta.