Cooking is our love language

Making gnocchi as a family + Introducing Winemaker Virtual Tastings

When planning how to celebrate my husband’s recent birthday weekend with our two boys, the first thing we did was plot meals. We considered restaurants big and small. But we knew at a restaurant our four-year-old would get antsy and in order to a finish a sentence, let alone a conversation, we would put him on his iPad thus undermining the entire point of spending time together. When we cook as a family, on the other hand, we are all engaged. We chop and bang and stir, working together elbow to elbow, apron to apron. If all my husband wanted on his birthday was quality time with his family, cooking was the clear choice.

If we left it up to our older son, as we often do on his weekends with us, then there would be Chicken Milanese (or ‘bang bang’ chicken as we like to call it, for all the mallet smashing), risotto, or grilled meat, as long as it came with a side of John’s roasted potatoes with garlic and rosemary. We could make those recipes any weekend, but a birthday is special so I proposed a project - conveniently in line with my cooking goals for the year of making more pasta from scratch.

“How about we make gnocchi?” The enthusiastic response was unanimous.

Aprons on, I laid out a mirepoix base for a quick sausage and tomato sauce and John got to work mincing. While our younger son took his bath, I peeled and boiled large, floury potatoes, draining and letting them cool slightly. Once Orion was in his pajamas, the boys donned their aprons and joined me at the counter. (Ian, the teenager, has appropriated one of my very old green aprons that with the faded message, “Kiss My Asparagus”). Each boy had a turn smashing the potatoes to a smooth consistency while I weighed out OO Italian flour to meet the ratio of 3:10 flour to cooked potato. Ian dove in gathering the flour into the potato and kneading the mixture until it resembled a smooth, taut football.

By this point the kitchen had filled with sweet and meaty aroma of the sauce. I might have worried about the tomatoes scorching on their low simmer, but I knew that while I worked on the dough with the kids, John was a few steps behind us, keeping an eye on the pasta sauce, while he toasted pumpkin seeds and cleaned leaves for his famous kale salad.

At the counter, the boys rolled the dough into 1-inch thick snakes, which was like working with playdough that you could actually eat. Orion got to try his hand with his new kid safe knife, cutting those snakes into portions that were, more or less, equal. Even our beloved nanny, Myra, joined in. It was hard to resist the fun of rolling dough nuggets across a ribbed pasta board, trying to get the thumb pressure just right, for a round shape with ridges that would eventually catch and cling to the sauce.

I woke up in Orion’s bed some hours later having fallen asleep next to him in a gnocchi induced coma. John and Ian were outside at the firepit, the same place they had been when I left them to put Orion to sleep two hours earlier. The next morning, I asked John what they talked about all that time, feeding logs to the fire. “We talked a lot about relationships. And cooking, actually.” Ian was commenting to John how well the two of us, his dad and step-mom, work together in the kitchen. How well we communicated. It was as if that dance we have between counter and stove were a microcosm of our relationship as a whole.

The same way couples who have been together a long time can finish each other’s sentences, couples who cook together have their own language, spoken and unspoken, knowing what the other needs. John knows when my hands are covered in dough and the sauce needs a stir. I might ask him to help, but nine times out of ten he has already done it. I know when John is getting close to finishing the salad, to pull the Pecorino out of refrigerator and place it, with the grater, within his reach. When we are learning something new together, whether a wok recipe or homemade gnocchi, that language expands. As long as we keep cooking together, as long as there are more things to learn, it will continue to grow. That love language is a big one, one our boys are learning too and evolving as their own. I can only hope that when they have partners and build their own families, it is a language that, like the best recipes, can be passed down to the next generation.

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Most people probably have a romantic date night out in mind for Valentine’s Day, but I far prefer cooking at home. With kids or without, gnocchi is a great project to dig your hands into and enjoy the delicious results over a glass, or more, of wine.

Classic Potato Gnocchi with Sausage Tomato Sauce

Note: Watching an old lady expertly make gnocchi is a pleasure unto itself. I highly recommend some family viewing of Pasta Grannies to get a feel for how the gnocchi dough should come together and roll out.

Serves: 4 as a main course, 6 as part of a multi course meal

Time: 1 hr.

Gnocchi

• Salt

• 2 large Idaho potatoes (yield 650 – 700 grams, cooked), peeled

• 200 grams Italian 00 flour (feel free to use all purpose if that is all you can find, but the OO flour will give you a lighter texture)

Sauce

• 2 T. olive oil

• 1 medium carrot, peeled and finely minced

• ½ medium onion, finely minced

• 1 celery rib, finely minced

• 1 lb. sweet Italian pork sausage, casing removed

• 1 tsp. fennel seeds

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• ½ cup dry white wine

• 28 oz. tomato passatta

• ½ tsp. sea salt

• ¼ ground black pepper

• ¼ cup packed basil leaves, chiffonade

• Grated Parmesan to serve

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Peel potatoes and cut them in half, lengthwise. Add to the boiling water and reduce heat to medium. Cook for about 20 minutes until easily pierced with a knife but not disintegrating into the water. Drain. While still warm, run through a food mill or mash in a bowl with a potato masher until you have a fine, smooth consistency. Set aside to cool slightly.

While potatoes are cooking and later cooling, start pasta sauce. Chop all veggies. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrot and celery, cooking for about five minutes until softened. Add pork and increase heat slightly, breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon until browned and in small, bite sized chunks. Reduce heat to medium again and add garlic and fennel seeds and cook for two minutes in the rendered pork fat with the other veggies until softened and aromatic. Add the white wine and cook, simmering until liquid is reduced by half. Add tomato passata, salt and pepper, stirring to combine. Bring back to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cook for twenty minutes to let flavors meld, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Before serving, stir in basil leaves.

While sauce is simmering, turn your attention back to the gnocchi. On a large countertop, make a well with the flour and place the potato puree inside. Slowly gather the flour into the potato working the mixture together with your hands. At first it will be quite shaggy but as you knead the mixture it will slowly come together until almost no errant bits of flour should be sticking to the countertop and you have a smooth, taut ball.

Using a knife or bench scraper, cut off a baseball sized ball of the dough. Lightly dust the surface of the counter with all-purpose flour. Roll that dough ball out until it becomes a snake, 1-inch thick all the way across. Cut that snake into 1-inch pieces so that the shape is roughly a square. Repeat with more snakes and more cutting until you have used all the dough.

Using the back of a fork or a gnocchi pasta board, use your thumb to push each dough piece gently across, giving it ridges and the indent of your thumb on one side. While you are rolling out the gnocchi, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When all the gnocchi are rolled out and the pasta sauce has finished simmering coming to a lovely marriage of flavors, drop the gnocchi in the water by the handfuls. Stir with a slotted spoon or spider skimmer to keep the gnocchi from clumping then let be. After about three minutes they will rise to the top of the water, puffed up and bobbing. Using the slotted spoon or spider, transfer directly into the pot with the tomato sauce. Gently fold the gnocchi with the sauce until thoroughly coated. Spoon onto warmed plates or shallow bowls and top with grated parmesan to serve.

To Drink…

Schermeister Viognier, Salomon Vineyard, Sonoma Valley, California 2023

I’m thrilled to share that the wine pick this week is a preview of a tasting I will be hosting March 13^th with Rob and Laura Schermeister, winemakers and proprietors of Schermeister Winery in Sonoma. I will write more on Rob and Laura later this week but for now, a note on the wine that won me over with one sip.

When Laura first offered me a splash to taste while she waited on another table, I did whatever the smell version is of a double take (a double sniff?). An intoxicating aroma of honeysuckle and tropical fruit drew me in, with something that resembled Condrieu, the grande dame of French Viognier. On the palate this wine is textured and full, giving generously layers of fruit and balanced acidity with a long, lovely finish. This is a wine to rival its French counterpart, but from Sonoma, and half the price.

This wine is an unequivocal value. But with only 150 cases produced this is just the sort of small batch wine that can be hard for the average consumer to discover, even if you are fortunate enough to take a tasting trip to Sonoma. That’s why I am launching this series of wine tastings to get you up close and personal with the small and independent producers you should know. It is a change to connect with small winemakers on a level you might not even get at the winery. We will take along together, learning from the makers, with plenty of time for Q&A at the end.

Single bottles $43 direct from the winery. Available as part of the 3-bottle tasting kit along with 2022 Grenache and 2022 Pinot Noir for event participants at $187, including FREE Shipping (Continental US addresses only)

Schermeister Virtual Wine Tasting

Paid subscribers have wine tasting event fees included with their subscription. Consider upgrading to paid (only $50 for an annual subscription) and included will be access to this and all future virtual wine tasting events.

If you would like to attend this event as a one-time participant to feel it out, you are welcome do that too! Register on Eventbrite at the link below for $35. Then I will send you the link to order your wine from Schermeister, who has generously extended free shipping for all participants on your tasting kit plus any other wine ordered. Place your wine order by February 28^th to ensure time for shipping and in consideration of winter weather events.

· When: Thursday March 13^th from 6 – 7pm

· Format: Interactive guided tasting through three wines with the winemaker, plus Q&A

· Where: Live online through zoom, with a recording available to all registered participants after the tasting

· What you need: Laptop with good internet, wine glasses

· Class materials: In advance of the tasting, you will receive a link for the Zoom session as well as tasting notes to follow along

· Cost: Class participation is free for paid Californiavore subscribers, $35 per registrant for free subscribers. All registered participants must purchase the wine kit from Schermeister for this class, $187 for 3 full sizes 750ml bottles with free shipping. Note: you can make a party out of this and invite friends over to share one kit and taste together! The Three bottle kit is perfect for 2 – 6 tasters. Highly recommend this as it is always fun to share with more people.

· Refund-ability: Unfortunately, tasting registrations and wine purchases are not refundable.

· TASTING CLASS SIZE IS LIMITED TO 20: Register now to reserve your spot!

· Please note: We can only ship wine participants in the United States. Those outside the US are still welcome to register and join. I will recommend alternative wines to purchase and taste along in your geography.