"Souper" Gnocchi...

I was fortunate enough to spend Friday morning making Tomato Soup and Gnocchi with 5 fabulous tween-aged cooks.  Here are some highlights:

  • Five girls = five pounds of potatoes and some really great gnocchi from scratch! Potatoes were roasted in the oven, and they learned how to tell when they were tender when pierced with a fork (compared to a raw potato which takes a bit of muscle to pierce with a fork.) It's best to peel the potatoes when they are fairly warm, so they donned some bright yellow rubber gloves to prevent their hands from getting too hot. It was the first time for all to "rice" the potatoes. For most, it was quite fun to mix up riced potatoes, flour, eggs, and other ingredients on the counter with their hands. They did a great job rolling out the dough and cutting and shaping the gnocchi. They were delicoius!

  • They also got their hands dirty when mixing up the ingredients for the tomato soup. Many times, it really is easier to just use your hands. They cut up tomatoes, peeled and cut onions and garlic, and added some fresh thyme sprigs and other ingredients, mixed it up with their hands, and poured it onto a baking sheet. After a while in the oven, it started to smell really good! We used a Vitamin blender to puree it (with some stock), but you could also use an immersion blender to create a chunkier version.