Recipe

 “Bellisima” Basil Kid-made Gnocchi + Five-ingredient Tomato Sauce + Italian Vanilla Basil Soda 

• I tried to get into my house the other day, but I couldn’t. Wanna know why? Because I had gnocchi (no key)
• What is a seagull’s favorite herb? BAY-sil
• Hope you GNOCCHI how PASTA-tively awesome we think our students are!!

Gnocchi are perfectly kid-friendly, and people of all ages seem to love their pillowy texture and shape. Total comfort food made with simple pantry ingredients. And this recipe is really a practice in using all senses. Smell the basil. Feel the dough. Listen for the water to boil. Watch for the gnocchi to bounce to the surface of the boiling water. Taste the flavors and feel the soft texture as you’re eating. As with all of the recipes we test, we try to imagine what the variable outcomes may be across a spectrum of ages and environments that make up our Sticky Fingers classes! It is SO fun to see the results when kids get involved! This kid-made gnocchi is likely going to come out rustic and creative shapes of all kinds. We happen to find that charming. We these gnocchi “Bellisima,” which means “beautiful” in Italian. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it can be seen in all shapes and sizes. With people. With gnocchi. With whatever we set our eyes upon! 

You may be a bit shocked how easy it is to make gnocchi. For real. Give it a go at home. This recipe is so delicious and easy to prepare, it’s pre-PASTA-rous.

All of us at Sticky Fingers Cooking firmly believe that you can teach anything through cooking:

Math, science, geography, and nutrition… this is what your kids learn in our classes this week:

• NUTRITION: Our students learn how basil grows and why it’s good for them to eat.
• MATH: Measuring cup math and cutting the gnocchi into precise pieces with a ruler.
• GEOGRAPHY: Where is Italy on the world map? 
• SCIENCE: Why do the gnocchi float when they are cooked? Gnocchi floats when it's cooked because of.... science! Before the gnocchi is cooked, its specific weight is higher than that of water, causing the uncooked gnocchi to sink to the bottom of the pan. When the gnocchi first touches the boiling water, the outside cooks quickly. Then, the water inside the gnocchi begins to evaporate, but the air can't escape because the outside is already cooked. Instead, the gnocchi's volume expands, without a change in mass. This essentially lowers the density of the gnocchi, causing it to float when it's completely cooked. Tasty science!

BASIL-tov to you all - Grazie for having your students join us! 

Happy + Healthy Cooking, Chef Jacqui  & Food-Geek-in-Chief, Chef Erin