Aubergine gnocchi with basil and tomato sauce

Looking at the aubergine gnocchi resting on the drying rack.
The intense smell is an invitation to plunge them into the pot of boiling salted water.

But they have to rest.
A little like the dreams and thoughts I had in my head and didn’t know I had.
Everything takes time, the time it takes.

About things I love and dreams I didn’t know I had

It really is true that passion can take us where even dreams cannot go.
The cuisine is my great passion.

Today I know, it had been burning inside me for a long time. When I was busy doing other things and did not imagine this breakthrough, cooking was already my future.

Starting to write this blog was the first step toward a new life. But, still, there was no awareness. I responded to a need I could not and would not put off any longer. To share and tell about the recipes I know.

I knew I had not been happy for a while. But thinking about change after 20 years at the university was not yet an option that had taken shape in my head.
At first I resisted the change that had matured within me.

I knew I had not been happy for a while. But to change my job at the University was not yet an option that had taken shape in my head.
At first, I resisted the change that had matured within me.

Meanwhile, crushed between a sense of duty, social responsibility, and that to myself, I encountered depression.

A deep rift had consumed me between the person I thought I should be, the things I thought I should want, and what I am and want.

Accepting my passion helped me regain the balance between reason and feeling.
And then regain happiness. I also realized that cooking and telling people about food is an incredible job and that maybe this is what I want to do.

Recipe after recipe

In the most crucial moments I have faced in recent years, in the long hours spent alone in the kitchen, I have discovered that cooking is healing. Recipe after recipe, I reconnected with my inner world, the one I had silenced.

I have dealt with my guilt and accepted that I am disappointing someone. And I have discovered that I am even proud of myself. For having the courage to leave the certain for the uncertain, embracing the happiness I deserve. Have you noticed, too, that sometimes we are almost afraid to be happy?

It was not easy, but it was necessary. The same is happened talking about it here.

When I first wrote about my depression, I had many doubts. But talking about it has been good for me and those reading (HERE find my post about it). At least judging from the messages I have received.

Choosing to tell about a difficult time is liberating. It was like taking a step forward.

For the first time, I chose not to hide among recipe ingredients and stories.
And with this renewed sense of freedom, I finally understood mine is not just a food blog but the story of my life, family, and society and culture through the table.

A great passion can become a full and satisfying job even if I am no longer a career woman.

I cook to remember who I am. But this, today, is also my job.

Aubergine gnocchi

I remember grandma bent over the cutting board.
She kneads with the dough cutter. The mixture is soft and sticky, so it keeps everything from sticking to her fingers.

Aubergine gnocchi are easy to make if you know this step in the process.
I can still see her peeling off small portions from the dough, again using the dough cutter. Dust with flour, top and bottom, and use your fingertips to shape a thin tube by moving it back and forth with the palm of your hands.

She makes tiny gnocchi and puts them to lose moisture on the pasta dryer.
The aroma of eggplant and basil is strong and inviting.
Grandma has a habit of seasoning them with a simple tomato sauce.

Eggplant, basil, and tomato: a dish that is the essence of summer.
Although with grandma Sara, every season was different.
Those memories deserved to find their way back to the kitchen and the blog.

Buona cucina, Monica

Aubergine gnocchi and tomato sauce

serves 4
List of the Ingredients

1 kg eggplant
200-250 g 00 flour
100 g cow ricotta cheese
a handful of basil leaves
30 g grated Parmigiano
1 generous pinch of salt
flour for the cutting board, to taste

tomato sauce
500 g tomato passata
a couple of ladles of pasta cooking water
olive oil, salt, fresh basil, to taste

Method

Wash and peel the aubergine.

Cut into cubes and cook in a pan with little oil until soft and dry.
Pour into a bowl, add the basil leaves, and cream with an immersion blender. Set the cream to drain to remove any remaining water. Or cook and dry the cream in a pan for a few minutes.

Mix the eggplant cream with Parmigiano, salt, and ricotta cheese in a bowl.
Add flour a little at a time, keeping a few tablespoons aside.

Tip the mixture onto a cutting board and knead with a pasta cutter or spatula without touching it with your hands.

Add the rest of the flour and knead again, moving the mixture with the dough cutter.

Still using the pasta cutter, separate a small portion of the dough, add a little flour to the work surface, dust the mixture, and, using your hands, form a thin roll.

Use a fork or the pasta cutter to make the gnocchi and, as you go, place it back on the dryer for fresh pasta.

Proceed in this way to make aubergine gnocchi.

Let rest for a few hours or overnight before consuming.

Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water until they rise to the surface.
Drain and season in the pan where you heated the tomato puree with olive oil, salt, basil, and a little ladle or two of the gnocchi cooking water.

Serve with grated Parmigiano aside.