Fairytale & Recipe: Gnocchi al Gorgonzola

Okay, so, quick QUICK fairytale... Don't have much time as I am packing to go NORTH (translation: Milan), pick up my residency crastuff (crap/stuff), just to head back to the middle (translation: Rome) to get on the plane to head SOUTH (translation: Miami) to get on the boat to head ...to head to.... OH CRUMMY BUTTONS!! My geography SUCKS... It's like- "wake me up when we get there" or "tap me on my shoulder cause I can't hear you since I got my headphones on" or "are we THERE yet?!"-- I am a DESTINATION GIRL- not really a JOURNEY GIRL... (sounds like a superheroine name... hehe...I syke ett ah LAHTT!!) Although that depends where I am going and who I am with and what am I doing to get there and what means of transportation I am taking and if I have to tinkle and the weather and A BAG OF CHIPS... the list goes on... I suppose that you could say I am very "conditional" at times. But only half the time... ....... Now that we have that cleared and I got that off my chest-- I am heading to THE CARIBBEAN!!! WHOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!! YEEEEAAAAAAAY!!!

Okay!! Okay!! Fairytale, got it!! 

Once upon a time, in a far away island, there lived a young girl of the ripe (punk) age of 18. Her papa, who lived in Europe, came to see her at her graduation to wisk her away to his country to spend some time with him and his wife and three angEVILic daughters (just kidding on the evil part)... They went everywhere together--just the two of them-- eating pizza and bruschetta every day until they BURST... Then, one day, he took this young-punk-110-pound-18-year-old to Switzerland... Locarno, to be exact... The day passed quickly and they laughed and walked and talked and enjoyed the sights and cobble-stoned roads, admiring the cleanliness of the town and the pricey artesan gift shops...

T'was not long before the hunger hit -and HARD!! Why, it was like a bomb!! Unexpected and horrific!! So, her papa took the two of them to a little piazza where there sit a quiet, lovely restaurant in the center... The girl ripped the menu with foreign writing out of the waiter's hands--who then gave her a dirty look-- and began to attempt to read the strange words outloud... Embarrassed by her accent, she pointed to the first thing that she saw and asked her papa "DADDY!! Wha... What's gore--GUN--zow-LA??" Her papa responded that it was a sharp cheese and that she may not like it. The girl replied that she loved cheese--and the sharper, the better."We ... Well then--what's GUH -NO- CHEE?" The man laughed and said "Knee-yolk-EE"... Said that it was a potatoe dumpling and a specialty. The girl repeated like so and said "I'LL TAKE IT"!!

Shortly after ordering, the waiter brought the girl her dish and something STRUCK THE GIRL RIGHT IN THE GUT!!!! Like a LIGHTNING BOLT!! OR A BANG!! PAIN!! SHARP JUTTING PAIN!!

She tried to get ahold of herself--tried to understand what it was that hit her!!!! WHAT WAS IT, YOU ASK??? Something so simple, yet so complicated!! What? What?? WHAT?!! .......................................................................................................................................Love, ladies and gentlemen.... Love.......

It was true, unbridled LOVE..... And guess what happened?? The girl and gnocchi spent time together EVERY SINGLE DAY FOR SIX MONTHS STRAIGHT!! Guess who else joined the girl during that time?

20 POUNDS OF SPARE TIRES, CELLULITE, AND CHUBBINESS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! But you know what?? She would do it ALL over again... Because now, there is a beautiful friendship between the two... NOOOOO!!! NOT THE 20 POUNDS!! Gnocchi... A tried and true old friend.... Well... Not THAT old... But CERTAINLY true!!

The End

RECIPE: GNOCCHI & GORGONZOLA

Start with making the gnocchi first!! If you find the packaged kind near the pasta section when you have potatoes, flour and one egg at home, I will personally disconnect your internet and all access to facebook.

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP THIS IS A FREE MESSAGE

Ingredients:

2 pounds of old, waxy potatoes (5 to 6 medium-sized)

300 grams of Flour

1 egg

Directions:

1. Place the potatoes into a large pot and fill the pot with water just until the water covers the top of the potatoes. Place on high heat and add the salt. Leave to boil.

2. When the potatoes have been boiling for about 20 minutes, remove from heat and drain.

3. With a dish/tea towel, take each potato and peel it with a knife. Work quickly.

4. With a ‘passatutto’, pass the hot potatoes (or use a potato masher). Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper if you like.

5. Add the egg and stir quickly. The heat from the potatoes will cook the egg. Add two or so handfuls of flour into the mix and stir until it all sticks together in a ball of dough.

6. Remove from bowl and knead the dough for a couple of minutes on a floured surface, adding the remaining flour and working in til the dough no longer sticks to your fingers and is pliable.

7. Cut the dough into four or five sections and roll out each section into a 1.5″ thick roll. Slice off 1″ pieces/rectangular cubes. Repeat with all sections and place the gnocchi pieces on a floured platter/dish so that they don’t stick.

8. In boiling water, add the gnocchi (not all at once). When they rise to the surface, wait half a minute and remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top so that they do not stick to one another.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU JUST MADE GNOCCHI!!

NOW FOR THE SAUCE!!!!

Ingredients:

2 cups Gorgonzola Cheese

2 cups To 3 Cups Heavy Cream

1 dash(es) Pepper (optional)

1. Preheat a sauce pan on medium heat and heat 2 cups of the cream.

2. Add in the gorgonzola and let it melt with the cream. Taste the sauce. If it is too sharp for you, add in more cream until desired taste is acquired.

3. Add in gnocchi to the sauce OR ladle the sauce on top of gnocchi/pasta.

4. Add a dash of pepper if desired, and serve!

MMMMMMMMMMMMMM...........

GNOCCHI, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! LOOK AT THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!! 

YOU ARE SO VERY WELCOME!!  Just sharing the love!!