Ingredients

• 30g/1oz fresh basil
• ½ clove garlic
• crushed
• 1 tbsp toasted pine nuts or walnuts (optional)
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan
• 1-2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper
• 3-5 large baked potatoes (can be leftovers)
• halved and potato scooped out (you will need about 400g/14oz cooked potato)
• 1 free-range egg
• 150g/5½oz plain flour (or gluten-free flour mix)
• 2 tbsp finely grated cheese
• such as parmesan or cheddar
• pinch nutmeg (optional)
• up to 200g/7oz cooked squash or carrots
• mashed
• can be substituted for some of the potato to make orange gnocchi
• 50g/1¾oz chopped cooked spinach
• drained (squeeze as much water out as possible in a sieve) to make green gnocchi
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh herbs such as basil
• chives or parsley

Directions

• Kids job: For the pesto
• wash the basil leaves under the tap and dry them on a tea towel or in a salad spinner.
• Kid’s job: Add the basil leaves to a food processor with the crushed garlic
• toasted pine nuts
• grated parmesan and olive oil. Add a twist of black pepper and then blend to a paste. You may need a little more olive oil to make it smooth. (Adults should supervise this.) Spoon into a jar and store in the fridge until needed.
• Adult’s job: Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Prick the baking potatoes all over with a fork and place in the oven to bake for 1-1½ hours. (Oven timers are great if you’re at work – put the potatoes in the cold oven in the morning and set it to come on 90 minutes before you get home.) If you are using leftover baked potatoes
• they will need to be warmed up again or the gnocchi will taste doughy - put them into a warm oven for 10 minutes or microwave on high for 30 seconds.
• Kid’s job: If you are using freshly baked potatoes allow them to cool enough to be handled safely and then slice them in half and kids can scoop out the flesh into a large bowl. Add any cooked squash or carrot if you are making the orange option.
• Kid’s job: Mash the cooked potato with a masher or a large fork
• until it is smooth.
• Kid’s job: Knock the egg gently on the work surface to crack it – cracking on a flat surface will create less little bits of shell. Pull the egg open over a small bowl. Pull out any bits of shell that have fallen into the bowl. (Wash your hands after handling eggs.)
• Kid’s job: Add the egg
• flour
• grated cheese
• black pepper and nutmeg (and the spinach or herbs if you are making the green version) to the bowl and mix together with your hands until you have a smooth dough. If the dough is sticky you can add more flour – it should feel like play dough.
• Kid’s job: Divide the dough into four balls. On a lightly floured surface or table roll the potato dough into a long sausage and then
• using a table knife cut it into 15 x 2cm/1in pieces.
• Kid’s job: Press each gnocchi with a fork to make a ridged pattern (this helps them cook and also helps sauce stick to them). Repeat with the rest of the dough.
• Adult’s job: Bring a large pan of water to the boil with a pinch of salt. Place 10 gnocchi at a time carefully into the water and boil for about 30 seconds - the gnocchi will rise to the surface of the water when they are cooked.
• Adult’s job: Remove the gnocchi from the water with a slotted spoon into a warmed bowl and stir in a teaspoonful of the pesto. Add another batch of gnocchi to the pan of water and repeat until all of the gnocchi are cooked. Serve immediately with a green salad.