Potato gnocchi become good old-fashioned Calabrian comfort food when you use potatoes from La Sila mountains or eat them with a hearty tomato and Calabrian sausage sauce.

We’ll get to that sausage recipe soon enough, but for now here is the recipe for the homemade potato gnocchi.

Ingredients:
(serves two)

>> 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
>> 1 pound potatoes
>> 1 egg
>> Salt

Directions:

1. Wash and peel potatoes and boil them in salted water for about 20 minutes.

2. Remove from heat. When they are cool, mash them and place them on a floured surface.

3. Add a pinch of salt and the flour and knead the potato and flour mixture until it is firm, yet soft.

4. Add the egg and continue to knead the dough until there are no lumps.

5. Divide the dough into 2-3 cm-thick strips.

6. Cut the gnocchi from these strips, lightly roll each ball in flour and then use a fork to create an indention (see photo above).

7. Place the gnocchi on a floured surface.

8. Let them sit for 15 minutes.

9. Boil them in salted water until they rise to the top.

Serve with a spicy tomato sauce like we did (below) or with your favorite Italian sauce.

Buon Appetito!

Have you ever had gnocchi? What is your favorite way to eat them?

Carnevale has come and gone and the Lenten season is in full swing. In case you missed it, I told my Facebook fans about my plan, not to give something up for Lent, but to spend a little time each day doing something for someone else. So … if YOU need something, just shoot me a message and if possible-and legal!-I’ll happily oblige.

One of the traditions I’m not tweaking this year is the Catholic obligation to abstain from meat on Fridays. This doesn’t mean you are sentenced to six weeks of grilled cheese sandwiches and cheese pizza. Oh no, my friends, Italian food was created for vegetarians. With the rich array of cheese, vegetables and pasta, there is no limit to what you can do senza carne.

To help you get started, here are five of my favorite meatless Italian recipes.

1. Pasta Puttanesca

This salty concoction takes its name from the ladies of the night, but with black olives, capers and anchovies, it doesn’t matter what it is called, as long as it good. And trust me, it is good.

2. Shrimp and Asparagus Pasta

Crunchy asparagus and fresh shrimp are sauteed in butter and tossed with penne pasta. Does it get any better than this?

3. Gorgonzola and Grape Bruschetta

You might think bruschetta is just an appetizer, but if you eat enough of it-and believe, you’ll eat a lot of it-then it is a safe bet you won’t go to bed hungry. This bruschetta recipe calls for a bit of cream cheese, Gorgonzola cheese, sauteed onions and plump red grapes. Yum!

4. Cacio e Pepe

This is one of my favorite Roman recipes and it is ideal for a meatless Friday during Lent, a quick, easy pasta dish at the end of of a long day or a nice surprise for your vegetarian friends … and really, Italian cooking doesn’t get any easier than this.

5. Pasta e Ceci (Chickpea pasta)

This pasta dish is like chicken soup for the Calabrian soul. It is healthy, it is hearty and it is wholesome. Oh, and it is also delicious.

What is your favorite meatless Italian recipe to cook during Lent?

PS: Gina of Warm October is the winner of a bottle of Calabrian Olive Oil and Paula of Paula’s Talk won  a $50 gift certificate to Monica’s Fine Foods. Thank you to everyone who played along and auguri to our winners!