My trip to Italy

I will start with the official news that I am back to London and the fact that I am experiencing mild writer's block condition (not that I consider myself a writer). So beware of this minor problem as I progress with writing my quick story. Also would like to mention that I no longer work in the cafe... who knows what the future will bring? But for now am focusing on settling in London whilst still feeling really privileged for my year experiences in Windsor.

Anyway... moving on! I had a short gap between moving to London and leaving the cafe job so I did little bit of traveling. I visited Italy, Greece and Lithuania (of course!). What I am going to talk about now however is Italy since it is what the title is suggesting. And since I am only telling short story I will only focus on FOOD. And believe me food was the biggest part of this trip! At least in my opinion...

 And the most amazing thing is that we were staying at our friend's Alex house! You see, I was able to witness the real Italian cuisine. Thanks to Alex's mum as she was really wonderful hostess and cooked three course meal every time. She even showed me how to make gnocchi which is my favorite! I mean, I knew how to make these potato dumplings before, however that used to take me forever. This time I defiantly feel more confident as Alex's mum (sadly forgot her name) demonstrated a good technique how to make them quicker. I am also amazed that her recipe had some ricotta cheese which made gnocchi even more soft and tasty! Try it for yourself....

 GNOCCHI WITH PEAS AND PROSCIUTTO HAM

Ingredients (feeds 4 gnocchi lovers):  300g ricotta cheese
                                                             2 egg yolks
                                                             250g potatoes (boiled, pealed and mashed)
                                                             130g flour plus some for rolling
                                                             100g hard cheese like Parmesan  
                                                             1tbs butter
                                                             1 leek
                                                             200g sweet peas (can be from frozen)
                                                             250ml vegetable stock
                                                             4tbsp cream
                                                             4 slices prosciutto ham
                                                             olive oil
                                                             salt and pepper

1. First, make the dough by mixing ricotta cheese, egg yolks, potatoes, flour and Parmesan together.
2. Then, prepare the sauce. Chop the leeks and fry them with butter. Then add peas, stock and whiz it up all together with hand food processor. Let it cook for further 2-3min and after taking it of the heat add the cream and season to your taste. Set aside.
3. Make the gnocchi by rolling the pieces of dough on the floury surface and then cutting them into little pieces (see picture above). To make them textured roll each gnocchi piece against the fork ribs. Lay them in floured plate by leaving some small gaps between them as they really like to stick together.
4. Lay prosciutto ham slices onto foil and bake for around 15 min until it is slightly golden. Take it out to dry.
5. Cook gnocchi in lightly salted boiling water. But don't go away too far away as the little pieces of gnocchi soon rises up to the top and that's when you should fish them out.
6. To serve mix gnocchi with sauce, little olive oil and dish them up. On top of each plate add crispy prosciutto slice and maybe some Parmesan of course. Buon appetitio!