Gnocchi With Creamy Bacon Mushroom & Garlic Sauce

Over 35 years ago I left my home and family and spent a couple of years living and teaching in Italy.  I enjoyed Italy very much.  I got to add a third language (already spoke Spanish from being born in Peru and growing up in Mexico--later added Portuguese as a fourth language when we lived in Brazil for 3 years), I met some of the greatest people on earth, and I began a love affair with Italian food!  This wasn't restaurant food mind you, it was the real deal cooked and served with love by genuine Italians and served to their families and guests.  I have fond memories of amazing 7 course meals, each course served on a different plate (I found that the Italians don't like to let their foods mix together).  The Italians, it turns out, do pretty much eat some sort of pasta at every meal but it is only one of several courses.  We Americans make pasta the main event at a meal but they just soften the palate with it.  The meals were served with joy and love, and we all talked, laughed, and shared experiences.  The Italians (particularly those in the more rural areas) shared with me a love of food, companionship, and life known as "la dolce vita" (i.e. "the sweet life").

I still remember the first time I had gnocchi, which are small thin (maybe the size of a flattened grape) dumplings that they use as a kind of pasta.  They usually make it at home from potatoes, eggs, and flour.  My companions and I were over for dinner at a friend's home, and the mother of the family who was doing the cooking asked us for help making "gnocchi".  I had never heard of or tasted gnocchi but I was happy to help.  She gave us some dough she had made and demonstrated the technique of rolling in into long snakes which were then cut into little pieces and flattened.  Several of us lined up at her counter and made gnocchi.  When we were done she dropped them in the water she already had boiling and had us all sit down at the table.  Within a couple of minutes she brought us steaming delicious gnocchi topped with one of her amazing pasta sauces.  I was in heaven.

I have tried a few times since to recreate the experience but the gnocchi turned out tough and chewy.  I recently found a recipe that uses "potato pearls" (which are a buttery-flavored kind of instant mashed potatoes we have in our food storage) that is simple to make and turned out delicious with the creamy mushroom garlic sauce I made.

Here is how to make Gnocchi with Creamy Bacon Mushroom & Garlic Sauce:

First the Creamy Bacon Mushroom & Garlic Sauce:

• 4 slices Bacon chopped
• 1/2 lb Mushrooms - sliced
• 1 Onion - sliced
• 3 cloves Garlic - minced
• 3/4 cup Kefir Cheese or Yogurt Cheese
• 3/4 cup Water 
• 3/4 tsp "Better Than Bouillon"
• 1/2 Tbsp Corn Starch
• 1/4 tsp Black pepper
• 1/4 tsp Salt

Fry up the bacon, add the mushrooms, onions, and garlic, and fry until the onions are tender and translucent.  Mix the bouillon, water, corn starch, salt, and pepper and add to the kefir cheese.  Mix well and add this mixture to the fried vegetables.  Heat until the mixture is bubbly and thick.

Next the gnocchi:

• 1 cup Potato Pearls (or other dried instant potatoes)
• 1.25 cups Boiling Water
• 1 large Egg
• 1.5 cups White Flour
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Dried Basil
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Pour the boiling water onto the potato pearls in a bowl and stir quickly and immediately.  Add in the egg, the salt and spices, and stir well.  Add the flour and gently fold in and integrate the flour.  Dump out of the bowl onto the counter and knead 5 or 6 times (don't over knead this dough because you don't want to work up the gluten or the gnocchi will be tough).  Roll into long snakes as thick as your index finger and cut into little grape-size pieces.  With plenty of flour on the counter flatten these pieces with your finger or with a fork.

Drop these little dumplings into a pot of boiling water.  As soon as they float to the surface scoop them out with a slotted spoon, smother in the Creamy Bacon Mushroom & Garlic Sauce and serve immediately.  These are tenderest when they are hot, and they cook so fast that you might want to call the family to the table, then drop these into the boiling water, bless the food, and serve these hot right out of the pot.