Equal to my love of food in general is my love of two specific food groups – pasta & cheese. This post is focused on the former.
My mom, sister & I recently attended a fabulous cooking class from the Boise Co-Op - ‘For the Love of Pasta’ – with instructor Sylvie Ryan. It was held at the very cool kitchen in Pottery Gourmet on Bannock.Fabulous class, great setting, and a superbly engaging instructor. While it wasn’t a full-on, hands-on cooking class, Sylvie kept us engaged, full of yummy pasta, and inspired to explore new techniques, toppings and treatments.
Although I went into the class fully expecting to reaffirm my love of all things gnocchi – the true star of the class was Sylvie’s mom’s recipe for Alsatian Kepfle (aka Spaetzle) Here’s a shot to tempt the tastebuds – topped with Red Wine Sauce with Shallots and Mushrooms – although Sylvie made us promise not to share her family’s recipe outside the class 
We also learned to make delicious from scratch egg noodles (tossed with garlic infused olive oil and thinly sliced raw veggies – pretty freakin’ divine!)
And also – gnocchi two ways
While I always yearn to create homemade gnocchi like those I’ve had in gourmet locales that are like ‘delicious pillows of goodness’, my results usually turn up tasty but more hefty.
So while I enjoyed the traditional potato gnocchi, Sylvie’s take on Quick Riccotta Gnocchi rocked. Simple ingredients: 2 cups drained Ricotta, 1 egg yolk, 1/4-1/2 tsp fine sea salt, 1/4 cup Parmigiano Cheese freshly grated, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour.
Simple yet sublime, especially when topped with toasted pine nuts, infused olive oil and basil.
