Romeri's Gnocchi & Sauce

Living in St. Louis, I am blessed to have our "Hill" area - which is predominantly Italian folks. They share their heritage, and their cooking, with the rest of St. Louis. The following recipe appeared in the St. Louis Cathedral Cookbook (which I love.)

• Ready In: 0 mins
• Yields: 1 batch

Ingredients

• gnocchi:

• 2  cups flour
• 1  egg
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 16  ounces ricotta cheese

• sauce:

• 1 (32 ounce) can tomatoes
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dry basil
• 2 -3  cloves garlic
• 1⁄4 cup olive oil

Directions

1. mix all gnocchi ingredients in a food processor. Mix until a dough ball is formed.
2. Place on a floury cutting board and knead into a firm consistency.
3. Cut a small hunk off and hand roll out to a long thin strip.
4. Cut the strip into small bite size pieces and place on a tray covered with waxed paper and flour.
5. When the tray is full you can add another layer of waxed paper and flour and continue. (No more than 3 layers are recommended).
6. They can then be frozen right on the trays covered with foil or cooked right away.
7. Fresh or Frozen, place them in boiling salted water like any pasta. Cook until tender (by taste) - do not overcook.
8. To make the sauce, cook chopped garlic in olive oil.
9. Add tomatoes and basil. Cook until tomatoes are thick and sauce like. This needs to simmer only 30-45 minutes at the most.
10. Rinse pasta, cover with sauce and Parmesan cheese and enjoy.