Zara Cooks in Cameroon

May your dreams be starchy and garlic-thumbed.

Ingredients:

2 lb potatoes, peeled 1 t salt 1 egg 2+ c. flour

Chop potatoes into 1-in chunks and boil until tender. Drain water and mash potatoes with a fork. Let potatoes cool til they won't cook a raw egg. Whisk egg and salt and add to warm potatoes. Knead in flour, about 5-10 minutes. Roll out into ropes and cut into little gnocchi sized pieces (1/2 inch-ish?). Poach in salted water 3-5 minutes. Drain and serve with sauce.

Pesto
Ingredients:
2 c. fresh basil leaves
1/2 c. olive oil
3 garlic cloves
1/3 c. pine nuts (if your loving family sent you some)
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese (i have no idea where you would acquire this in Cameroon)
salt and pepper to taste

Chop basil, garlic and pine nuts very finely. Mix with olive oil, salt and pepper. (There is no Parmesan cheese here).

During Peace Corps training, we made gnocchi for one Thursday night dinner, with 3 sauces - pesto, spicy tomato, and creamy-cheesy. Every time I make gnocchi on my own, I overestimate what 2 pounds of potatoes looks like and end up adding so much more flour and cooking for hours and destroying my kitchen.

The first time I had gnocchi was at a chic little Italian restaurant in Eureka, CA of all places, when my family all came to visit me at college. That gnocchi had a butter sauce and smoked salmons and capers...