Who gnows how to gnocchi?

This weekend I had the opportunity to make gnocchi for the first time at a cooking class with the students in Montespertoli.  We cooked in a family's large private kitchen at their country house in the hills outside Florence.  They broke us into groups to prepare several traditional dishes.  Here's what our menu looked like:

Crostoni misti con cavolo nero, broccoli e cavolfiore

Gnocchi al sugo di pomodoro

Ravioli spinaci e ricotta al burro e salvia

Arista al latte

Tiramisù

For many of us, making gnocchi was the highlight of the evening.  It's a pretty laborious procedure (although not to the extent of filled pasta) and it was so interesting to follow it from beginning to end.  My favorite parts were rolling the dough and marking it with a fork to achieve those well-known grooves that help attract the sauce, as well as cooking the gnocchi by plopping them into boiling water and plucking them out when they begin to float.

So now I can add gnocchi to my repertoire of future dinner party possibilities.  Get ready.