The Simple Things

Taking time to live well
  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • SHOP
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Work with us
  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • SHOP
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Work with us

Blog

Taking Time to Live Well

  • All
  • Chalkboard
  • Christmas
  • Competition
  • could do
  • Eating
  • Escape
  • Escaping
  • Fresh
  • Fun
  • gardening
  • Gathered
  • Gathering
  • Growing
  • Haikus
  • Interview
  • Living
  • Looking back
  • Magazine
  • magical creatures
  • Making
  • Miscellany
  • My Neighbourhood
  • Nature
  • Nest
  • Nesting
  • outing
  • playlist
  • Reader event
  • Reader offer
  • Shop
  • Sponsored post
  • Sunday Best
  • Think
  • Uncategorized
  • Wellbeing
  • Wisdom
Photography: Kirstie Young

Photography: Kirstie Young

Cook | hazelnut pesto and gnocchi with fennel

Iona Bower May 9, 2020

Deeply nutty toasted hazelnuts make a brilliant alternative to pine nuts in pesto. Delicious dolloped over your own homemade gnocchi

In our May issue (in shops and available to order online now), we have a feature by Lisa Leendertz from our series Today, Tomorrow, To Keep, with recipes for a tart for today, a bhaji for tomorrow and a kimchi to keep. So we thought we’d dig another out of our archives. This recipe is from our ‘Hazelnuts’ Today, Tomorrow, To Keep from issue 76. We hope you enjoy it again.

Serves 4

For the pesto
1 large bunch of parsley, leaves only
60g blanched and toasted hazelnuts
60g hard goats’ cheese, finely grated
150ml cold-pressed extra virgin rapeseed oil
Juice of ¼ lemon

For the gnocchi
500g potatoes, peeled and boiled
1 egg, beaten
125g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
Olive oil and butter, for frying and drizzling

For the fennel
50g butter
2 large fennel bulbs, each cut into eight wedges to serve
A few toasted hazelnuts
Hard goats’ cheese, for grating

1 If you have a food processor, put all the pesto ingredients into it and blitz together. If you’re using a pestle and mortar, crush the nuts first, then finely chop the herbs, add these and the rest of the ingredients, and pound to a paste. Whichever method you use, taste and add salt and pepper as necessary. Add a little more oil if you prefer a looser consistency.
2 To make the gnocchi, push the potatoes through a ricer, or mash them (riced potatoes make lighter, fluffier gnocchi). Roughly mix in the egg with a fork, then sieve over the flour, season with salt and work into a dough, kneading a few times. Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the mixture to 2-3cm thick. Cut into short lengths and mark with a fork.
3 Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and drop in the gnocchi in batches. Lift out with a slotted spoon when they bob to the surface after a minute or so. Drain on kitchen paper.
4 For the fennel, melt the butter in a frying pan and gently fry the fennel until caramelised (at least 10 mins). Turn and caramelise the other side.
5 If you like, you can brown the gnocchi. In another frying pan, melt a knob of butter with a little olive oil and fry the gnocchi until golden. Divide the gnocchi and fennel between four plates and top each with a spoonful or two of pesto, some toasted nuts and a little extra grated goats’ cheese.

Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More from our May issue…

Featured
Sunshine chalkboard - Catherine Frawley.jpg
May 17, 2020
Learn | to play a little sunshine on the ukulele
May 17, 2020
May 17, 2020
Rosemary Kirstie Young.jpg
May 16, 2020
Food matching | Rosemary
May 16, 2020
May 16, 2020
Crayon Candle.JPG
May 13, 2020
Make | a candle from crayons
May 13, 2020
May 13, 2020

More things to make today, tomorrow and to keep…

Featured
cabbage.jpg
Jan 26, 2019
Cabbage: a prince among brassica
Jan 26, 2019
Jan 26, 2019
SIM76.TODAY,TOMORROW,TOKEEP_Hazelnuts-Granola-7390.png
Oct 5, 2018
Recipe | Chocolate & hazelnut granola
Oct 5, 2018
Oct 5, 2018
SIM74.TTTK_Relish-8992.png
Sep 20, 2018
Recipe | Preserved roasted peppers
Sep 20, 2018
Sep 20, 2018
InEating Tagsissue 95, issue 76, pesto, nuts, cooking, lunche
  • Blog
  • Older
  • Newer
Featured
  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well
Feb 27, 2025
Feb 27, 2025

Buy, download or subscribe

See the sample of our latest issue here

Buy a copy of our latest anthology: A Year of Celebrations

Buy a copy of Flourish 2, our wellbeing bookazine

Listen to our podcast - Small Ways to Live Well

Feb 27, 2025
Join our Newsletter
Name
Email *

We respect your privacy and won't share your data.

email marketing by activecampaign
facebook-unauth twitter pinterest spotify instagram
  • Subscriber Login
  • Stockists
  • Advertise
  • Contact

The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press

The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

facebook-unauth twitter pinterest spotify instagram