Gnocchi with cheese and pepper with the fresh beans

I love the potato gnocchi: are soft, melt in your mouth and for me they are a real ' comfort food '. I like to make them at home, Although much depends on the quality of potatoes and that's a big unknown. I found that cooking the potatoes to steam you can get very little flour in the dough and gnocchi really feels just the flavor of the potato. I topped with a cream cheese and pepper, alla romana, and with the first fresh broad beans that I found at the market. How about as a starter for the Easter lunch?

Ingredients for 4 people:

• 1 kg of homemade gnocchi (for the recipe click here on ' the basics’)
• 1 pound of fresh beans
• 250 grams of fresh peas
• half an onion
• 80 grams of grated pecorino cheese Dop aged
• salt to taste
• pepper
• extra virgin olive oil as required

Remove the beans from the pod and then Peel each fava from the outer skin. Finely chop the onion and sauté half in a pan with two tablespoons of oil, then add the beans and toss them for 4-5 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper: remain firm and bright green. In a casserole put two more tablespoons oil, the rest of the onion and sauté: Add the peas and add a glass of water. Add salt and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. Then put everything into the mixer until creamy smooth and homogeneous, adding if necessary, a drizzle of olive oil to emulsify thoroughly.

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and boil the dumplings: they will be ready when they come to the surface. In a bowl put the cheese and a generous grinding of pepper, uniting a Dipper of the gnocchi cooking water and emulsify all shut up quickly with a fork, until you get a soft cream. Put on a plate a spoonful of peas, fish’ the gnocchi with a ' kitchen spider’ and lay them gently onto the cream, toss with cheese and pepper mixture and then add the beans stewed fresh.

THE PAIRING: our choice fell on a Franciacorta Docg Brut. Recommend, in particular, the Brut 25 the cantina Fratelli Berlucchi. A fresh wine, made exclusively from Chardonnay, fruity and pleasant. Ideal companion for this recipe of spring.