Homemade gnocchi with pesto / Domači njoki s pestom

Kartice za označevanje

I think it’s time for me to write something new over here. The sky is getting cleaned every day, rain is chasing us and I like it. Oh yeah, I love the sun & heat & YOLO (You Only Live Once) Summer spirit .... but when my skin starts to peel off because of sunburn and clothes are more wet than dry (due to sweating) .... a-a .... + I can eat more chocolate when it’s raining. Oh, like you're so perfect (and if you are, I don’t like you), I bet that you stuff your mouth with chocolate, when the temperature drops! =).

Zdi se mi, da je čas, da spet kaj povem. Nebo se pere vsak dan, dež nas preganja in všeč mi je to. O ja rada imam sonce & vročino & YOLO (you only live once) poletne prebliske….ampak, ko se začnem lupit zaradi sončnih opeklin in so obleke bolj mokre kot suhe (zaradi švicanja)….a-a…. + V dežju lahko pojem več čokolade. Oh kot, da si ti tako popoln/a (in če si, te ne maram), grem stavit, da se tudi ti bašeš z njo, ko pade temperatura! =).

Those who follow me on Face thingy know, that I almost suffered from cerebral aneurysm, because I had the opportunity to prepare and photograph 5 recipes for the beach, which were published in a Slovenian magazine, called Beautiful & healthy.

Tisti, ki mi sledite na Fejsoliniju veste, da me je skoraj zadela možganska anevrizma, ker sem imela priložnost pripraviti in fotografirati 5 receptov za na plažo, ki so bili objavljeni v reviji Lepa & zdrava. Pri temu mi je priskočila na pomoč  Trgovina Popolna Dekoracija. Čisto lepo.

The process itself was very glamorous. Oh do not be silly, the truth is, everything went wrong. I had a plan to prepare and photograph all 5 recipes in two days, 3 of them by the sea, and 2 by the lake. This opportunity didn’t come at perfect timing. Of course, I had  a deadline for sending the material. I had a cold at that time and many other serious things on my  mind. I don’t live by the sea, so I had to coordinate with Gasper in terms of driving there. On the D day the recipes OF COURSE took longer than expected, I didn’t have all the ingredients and there was ... RAIN! But Gasper and I still speeded to the seaside, and in between I cursed because of basil, I stared with tears in my eyes at the sky and checked lighting on my camera. Well, before I even reached the point of us leaving home, I went through a long list of things that I should take with me. And nevertheless forgot one thing .. smarty pants.

Sam proces je bil zelo glamurozen. Ah ne ga srat, bilo je tako, da je šlo vse narobe. Zamislila sem si, da bom vseh 5 receptov pripravila v dveh dneh, 3 slikala ob morju, 2 pa ob jezeru. Čas ni bil ravno primeren. Seveda sem imela določen datum, do katerega sem morala poslati gradivo. Ravno takrat sem bila prehlajena in precej drugih hujših stvari v mislih. Morja nimam za blokom, torej sem se morala uskladiti tudi glede prevoza. Na D dan je priprava receptov SEVEDA potekala dalj časa, kot sem pričakovala, nisem imela vseh sestavin in padal je… DEŽ! Z Gašperjem sva vseeno hitela proti morju, vmes sem preklinjala baziliko, jokaje buljila v nebo in preverjala svetlobo na škljocerju. No, preden sem sploh prišla do točke odhoda, sem šla čez dolgi seznam stvari, ki sem jih morala vzeti s seboj. In kakšno kljub temu pozabila..smarty pants.

We dragged all that stuff to the beach, it stopped raining  .... even the sun appeared! The ideal was that the beach was practically empty and not so ideal when it was no longer empty (I hope the devil takes you). When I realized that 500 images could be enough, I rescued Gasper from boring waiting and we had a beach picnic. We ate the food I took pics of (yaaay food!).

Vso kramo sva zvlekla na plažo, dež ni padal….celo sonce se je pojavilo! Idealno je bilo to, da je bila plaža praktično prazna in ne več tako idealno, ko ni bila več prazna (hudič naj vas vzame). Ko sem ugotovila, da bo 500 slik dovolj, sem Gašperja odrešila čakanja in imela sva piknik na plaži. Tisto, kar sem fotografirala, sva pojedla (jeeeej hrana!).

The next day a lot of things went wrong again. The selected location was filled with people and I don’t like that. It’ so annoying and weird if you all of a sudden place food like you're in a restaurant, with flowers and everything and then you take pics of it too. I had to improvise and change the location but I think that in the end everything functioned fine. It was not until the next day I photographed last recipe and I did that at home, on the terrace /I had no other choice).

Naslednji dan je šlo spet vse narobe, ker je bila izbrana lokacija polna ljudi in meni to ne paše. Zoprno je in čudno, če v javnosti postavljaš full on pogrinjek, kot da si v restavraciji in ga na koncu še fotografiraš. Morala sem improvizirati in zamenjati lokacijo ampak mislim, da je na koncu vse skupaj v redu funkcioniralo. Šele naslednji dan sem fotografirala zadnji recept in to kar doma, na terasi (nisem imela druge izbire).

Kartice za označevanje

These are common real stories behind food blogs. We all try to make our posts as if everything is perfect, filled with sunshine, calmness, relaxed atmosphere  and achieved effortlessly. Effort is needed and often the perfect cake is surrounded by a world that is falling down. Decor is scattered everywhere, recipes fail, the light disappears too quickly and sometimes .... sometimes .... shhhhh ... don’t tell anyone ... sometimes .. I don’t feel like cooking or taking pics and I just don’t give a damn. It’s important to me that we bloggers are true, real, honest and say it as it is. I'd rather be me, than perfect. I personally find perfect people annoying and suspicious. Get your perfection somewhere else, we love real and genuine people over here! : P

Takšno je ozadje food blogov. Vsi se trudimo, da bi naše objave izpadle tako, kot da je vse popolno, s soncem obsijano, umirjeno, sproščeno in doseženo brez truda. Trud JE potreben in velikokrat popolno torto obdaja svet, ki se podira. Stvari letijo po stanovanju, recepti ne uspejo, svetloba prehitro izgine in včasih….včasih….pššššt…ne me zatožit…včasih..mi dol visi in se mi ne da. Tako prav se mi zdi, da smo blogerji resnični, realni, iskreni, dostopni in povemo tako, kot je. Raje sem JAZ, kot popolna. Popolni ljudje so meni osebno sumljivi in nadležni. Odnesi svojo popolnost drugam, tukaj smo radi življenjski in pristni! :P

I almost forgot, that it would be good if I wrote something about today's recipe. The fat person in me loves every dish that was invented in Italy (and everything that Italians created is fattening). I better not even start thinking about gnocchi. The refrigerator is full of vegetables, stick to the plan Neja! Well, these gnocchi were excellent and I would prefer jumping into the manure, instead of choosing something else for gnocchi than pesto. Pesto, pesto, pesto! Everyone should know how to prepare pesto. There you have it! With love, Neja PS-Thanks for the warm comments on my previous post. I took them to heart.

Skoraj sem pozabila, da bi bilo v redu, če bi kaj napisala o današnjem receptu. Bajsika v meni ima rada vse kar so izumili v Italiji (vse kar so oni izumili, redi). Bolje, da sploh ne začnem razmišljati o njokih. V hladilniku je polno zelenjave, drži se plana Neja! No, njoki so odlično izpadli in raje se vržem v gnoj, kot izberem  kaj drugega za premazat njoke, kot pesto. Pesto, pesto, pesto! Vsak mora znati pripraviti pesto. Tukaj ga imate! Z ljubeznijo, Neja P.S.- Hvala za tople komentarje pod prejšnjo objavo. Nesla sem jih k srcu.

Recipe from: Chef mom. She knows.

The Recipe

Gnocchi Ingredients 3 pounds potatoes 2 cups flour, plus more for kneading and forming 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon salt The process 1. Boil the potatoes whole until tender. Depending on the size of the potatoes, this could take 40 minutes. Drain the potatoes and allow them cool for a little while. 2. Peel the potatoes (holding the potatoes with a dish towel if necessary) and put them through a ricer. 3. Once you have riced all the potatoes, toss them in a large bowl with the flour and the salt. Make a well in the center of the mixture, and crack in the whole egg. 4. Using a fork to start, then your hands, knead the egg into the potato mixture. Continue to knead into a smooth dough, adding more flour if necessary. A bit tacky is good; very sticky needs more flour. 5. On a well-floured board, cut pieces from the dough and roll into a rope. Cut the rope into 1-inch pieces. 6. Toss the finished gnocchi with a little more flour as you finish each rope and either cook immediately or freeze for future use. 7. To cook fresh gnocchi, bring a pot of water to a gentle boil. Add the fresh gnocchi and let cook about 4 minutes. 8. Gently lift the gnocchi out of the water with a slotted spoon. Toss with sauce and serve immediately. Pesto Ingredients 2 cups packed fresh basil leaves 1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 small garlic clove, sliced thin ½ teaspoon kosher salt Extra virgin olive oil The processs Put the basil, pine nuts, cheese, garlic and salt in a food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Slowly add 1/3 cup olive oil while the machine is running; scrape down the bowl and add 1 or 2 tablespoons more oil if needed, until pesto is creamy and blended.

Njoki Sestavine 1400g krompirja 250g moke, plus več za gnetenje in oblikovanje 1 jajce 1/2 žličke soli Postopek 1. Skuhajte krompir do mehkega. Od velikosti krompirja je odvisno koliko časa bo to trajalo, približno 40 min. Odcedimo krompir in pustimo, da se ohladi. 2. Krompir olupimo in pretlačimo (kot za pire krompir). 3. Pretlačen krompir damo v posodo, posipamo z moko in soljo. Na sredini naredimo jamico in vanjo razbijemo jajce. 4. Jajce s pomočjo vilice vgnetemo v maso, nato nadaljujemo z roko. Med gnetenjem dodajamo moko in gnetemo toliko časa, dokler masa ni več tako lepljiva, da bi se lepila na roke. 5. Na dobro pomokani površini z roko zrolamo manjše kose testa-v ''kače''. '''Kače'' razrečemo v 2cm velike koščke 6. Dobljene koščke na rahlo posujte z moko, skuhajte takoj ali zamrznite. 7. Njoke skuhate tako, da zavrete vodo, dodate njoke. Pripravljeni so takrat, ko priplavajo na površje (približno 4 minute). 8. Njoke odcedite, na vrh dodajte pesto in postrezite. Pesto  Sestavine 2 skodelici listov sveže bazilike 45g pinjol 28g naribanega parmezana 1 majhen strok česna, narezan na tanko ½ žličke soli Ekstra deviško oljčno olje Postopek Postavite baziliko, pinjole, sir, česen in sol v multipraktik, vse skupaj zmeljite, dokler niso sestavine drobno sesekljane. Dodajte olivno olje, ponovno zmeljite, postrgajte maso iz stene multipraktika in dodajte več olivnega olja, če je potrebno.