Steps

1. In a hot sauté pan add butter flavored oil, mushrooms, chicken, basil, caramelized onions, salt and pepper and sauté for approximately 60 to 90 seconds.
2. Add the wine and sauté for 60 seconds. Add the heavy cream and bring to a boil over high heat. Dip pre-cooked pasta in boiling water for 10 seconds, drain thoroughly.
3. Put pasta in sauté pan and sauté until well incorporated. Toss briefly over fire, add parmesan cheese and continue to toss until cheese is completely incorporated.
4. Transfer to plate, garnish with parsley.

Steps

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir sausage, mushrooms, onions, salt, and black pepper in hot oil until vegetables are softened and sausage is browned, 6 to 7 minutes.
2. Stir chopped chicken to sausage mixture; cook and stir over medium-high heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Pour in wine and cook, stirring to remove any browned bits off the bottom of the pan, until most of the wine is evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, and cream; simmer for 30 minutes. If needed, add water to create a thick sauce.
3. Stir peppers, olives, and garlic into sauce. Continue to simmer until thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in parsley.
4. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook rigatoni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until nearly cooked, about 11 minutes. Drain.
5. Combine sauce and cooked pasta, stir in cheese, cover and set aside until pasta has absorbed the sauce, 1 to 2 minutes.

Steps

1. Prick the potatoes with a fork and rub about 1 tsp of olive oil all over the whole parsnips. Roast the potatoes and parsnips on a baking sheet in a 400F oven for approximately one hour or until very tender when pierced with a fork.
2. Allow to cool sightly and as soon as you can handle them, remove the skins from the hot potatoes and parsnips. Press the potatoes through a potato ricer if you have one, or grate them over the large holes of a box grater. Puree the parsnips using a stand or immersion blender, until smooth. (Or simply mash them with a fork as a did in the video). If the parsnips are large, the hearts may be tough, if this is case, simply remove and discard them and work with the tender flesh only. Place the grated potato and parsnip on a clean board. Whisk the egg yolks and pour over the parsnip and potato mash. Using a flour sifter or fine-mesh sieve, sprinkle on about 1/4 cup of the flour and begin to incorporate the flour very loosely, using a pastry blender or a wooden spatula. Avoid overworking or kneading the dough. Cutting in the flour prevents the gluten in the flour from developing and yields a more tender gnocchi. Keep adding flour and incorporating it until the dough becomes less sticky. You can begin folding the dough gently onto itself to incorporate the last amounts of flour. Add more flour as needed, to obtain a dough that holds together well and is not overly sticky, but is not stiff and dry either. Roll the dough into a log, cover with a cloth, and let it rest for 15 minutes while you prepare the pesto.
3. Place all the pesto ingredients except the oil in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the olive oil and pulse just until incorporated, or until your pesto reaches the consistency you prefer. (Some people like a smooth pesto but I like to see flecks of green and I try to avoid a puree). Taste and add salt, pepper, and more lemon juice as needed.
4. Take the gnocchi log and slice it into about 6 even pieces. Roll each piece into a long snake about 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut the gnocchi pieces so they are about 1-inch long. Dust with flour and avoid piling them together so they don’t clump.
5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Delicately drop the gnocchi into the boiling water, in about 3 or 4 separate batches. They will drop to the bottom and after about a minute, they will float to the surface. Let them float for about 30 seconds and then remove with a strainer or slotted spoon and transfer into a heated pan with the 2 Tbsp of butter. Allow the gnocchi to turn golden brown and at the last minute, add a generous dollop of pesto, making sure not to leave the pesto in the hot pan for more than a few seconds otherwise it will begin to turn a brownish green. Serve hot, with a bit of extra grated parmesan.

Steps

Gnocchi

1. Put the potatoes in a pot and cover with water about 2 inches above the top of the potatoes. Bring the potatoes to a gentle boil.
2. Boil the potatoes until they are knife tender about 30-40 minutes. Try to keep the skins from rupturing so the potatoes don’t absorb any water and don’t overcook them.
3. Let the potatoes cool a bit so that you can handle them. Peel them. If they’re too hot to handle use a kitchen towel to hold the hot potato when you peel them.
4. Put the potatoes through a ricer or food mill while the potatoes are still hot. Mashing the potatoes works in a pinch but the gnocchi won’t be as light.
5. Spread the riced potatoes on a cookie sheet or a flat baking pan in a single layer to cool and allow some of the moisture to evaporate. The drier the riced potatoes the lighter the dough will be.
6. Bring a big pot of very well-salted water to a boil.
7. Put the riced potatoes in a mound on a flat work surface. Create a well in the middle.
8. Crack the egg onto the work surface in the well. Beat the egg well. (I don’t salt fresh pasta doughs including gnocchi because I think salt toughens the dough. I’d rather the gnocchi absorb salt in the boiling cooking water. But, if you want add about 3/4 teaspoon of salt to the egg before you beat it.)
9. Slowly start to incorporate the egg into the ring of riced potatoes.
10. When fully incorporated spread out the mixture and sprinkle some of the flour over the top.
11. Knead the flour into the potato mixture.
12. Repeat with another dusting of flour until the dough holds together and is smooth and soft. Try to use as little flour as possible for light gnocchi.
13. Sprinkle some flour on the work surface so the dough doesn’t stick. Knead the dough to create a smooth dough ball.
14. Cut the dough ball into 6 pieces.
15. Flour the work surface again if necessary and roll each piece into a rope of 1/2 inch diameter.
16. Cut the rope into ½ inch pieces. Make sure you have enough flour on your work surface so that the pieces don’t stick together.
17. Using the back of a fork press the piece over the tines with your thumb and press downwards to push the gnocchi off the fork. You’ll create indentations from the tines on the back of the gnocchi and a concave indentation on the other side from the pressure of your thumb. Great shape and texture to absorb the sauce.
18. Spread the gnocchi on a floured cookie sheet or flat baking pan as you make them.
19. Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water, gently stir to make sure they don’t stick together and gently boil the gnocchi until they rise to the top of the water.
20. Remove the gnocchi with a spider or mesh ladle and place them in the sauté pan with the sauce of your choice

Pesto Trapanese

1. Put the garlic, almonds, pepper flakes, basil leaves, tomatoes and then the sea salt in a food processor or blender.
2. Blend for about a minute or so, scrape down the sides and then blend again until no large bits are visible.
3. While the machine is running gently stream in the EVOO until the pesto is smooth and well blended.

Gorgonzola Sauce

1. Heat the cream stirring frequently so a skin doesn’t form on top.
2. When the cream is reduced and thickened add the gorgonzola and stir until the gorgonzola is melted and well blended with the cream.
3. Mix in sea salt and pepper to taste.

Pizzaiola Sauce

1. Put the olive oil and garlic in a cold sauté pan big enough to hold the cooked pasta your using.
2. Heat the pan over medium-high heat until the oil sizzles and the garlic just begins to take on some color.
3. Add the tomatoes and salt and mix with the EVOO and garlic.
4. Simmer to evaporate some of the liquid and the sauce thickens.
5. Stir in the oregano.
6. Continue cooking for about 30 minutes.
7. Remove the garlic before using the sauce, or not. Your choice.