My Mini Babushka : Homemade Potato and Pear Gnocchi

We have a pear tree in my backyard. One morning I walked out and two pears dropped down right as I walked past the tree. It was a sign. So naturally I started thinking how can I make something delicious, but different at the same time with these pears? I've never made gnocchi before, so I decided to give it a try and honestly they turned out a lot better than I ever thought!

Give this gnocchi with a fruity twist a try! I promise they wont disappoint!

Ingredients:
4 medium to large potatoes (Russets or Idaho's work best)
1 1/2 cups of white unbleached flour
2 egg yolks
1 Tbs olive oil
about 1 cup of pear puree

Pear Puree:
2 large diced pears (leave one unpeeled and one peeled--the color of the peels looks great in the gnocchi and enhances the pear taste as well!)
1 Tbs of hot water
1/2 zest of a lemon

For the Sauté:
1/2 a shallot (chopped)
1/2 cup of wine
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried basil and parsley
1 Tbs fresh parsley

Puree: In a blender combine all the ingredients and puree until smooth!

Instructions for Gnocchi:

1.) Start with boiling the potatoes. When they are cooked and cooled, using a fork smash/mash the potatoes until they are as smooth as you can get them. Try to get all the lumps out! This is very important in having a good gnocchi dough.

2.) To the mashed potatoes, incorportate the 2 egg yolks. Then add the pear puree and stir until smooth.

Then slowly, in thirds, add flour. The dough will be very mushy and lumpy at first; you need to kneed it until it can be formed into a large dough ball.

3.) Flour your work surface. Cut off a portion of the dough (maybe 1/6) and roll it into a log. The log should be about 1 inch wide! Using a sharp knife, cut off inch size pieces. Repeat until you end up with a lot of little gnocchi squares!

4.) Bring a large boiling pot to a boil (make sure to salt the water). Carefully drop in 10-12 gnocchi into boiling water and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the gnocchi float to the top. Keep a close eye on these! They cook quicker than you think!

5.) Once the gnocchi float to the top, ladle them out into a large boil, and drizzle a little bit of olive oil over them so they don't stick to each other. Continue this process until all of your gnocchi are cooked!

6.) In a large sauté pan, heat a Tbs of olive oil, stir in 1/2 a shallot (chopped) and cook until light brown. Add in about 10-12 gnocchi and allow them to get lightly brown on both sides (will take about 3-4 minutes per side). Once slightly brown, add red wine, apple cider vinegar, salt, pepper and herbs. Sauté for another 3 minutes or until wine is nicely reduced.