The weather seems to get a little bit rainy these days, but we shouldn’t stop feeling in a Summer mood!

For this reason today I’m going to use one of my favourite ingredients, coming directly from the seas and the oceans: mussels!

You will be surprised, but they match perfectly with the garlicky and bitter flavour of our Cime di Rapa Pesto, made with a traditional Italian vegetable, which recalls the turnip.. delicious!

I also decided to cheer my table up, making this dish even more coloured and fresh, using radicchio, to create a nice bowl, to serve this meal!

So what are you waiting for? Try my:

Gnocchi with Cime di Rapa Pesto and Mussels

Ingredients for 4 people

• 300g Gnocchi ( see recipe for handmade gnocchi below)
• 1 jar of Turnip Tops-Cime di Rapa Pesto
• a bunch of fresh Mussels
• 4-5 Cherry Tomatoes
• A crunchy salad head, I used Radicchio
• Pepper and salt, as needed

Open the bag of mussels and take out the broken or opened shells. Clean and wash the remaining mussel shells. Put them in a pan or in a pot with few spoons of water and just wait few minutes until the mussels to open.

Let the mussels cool down in the pan.

In the meanwhile finely dice the cherry tomatoes

Decorate a bowl with some of the radicchio leaves to serve your gnocchi at the end.

Cook the gnocchi in boiling salted water, until they float to the top, about 2-4 minutes.

Gently remove them with a slotted spoon and drain very well.

Toss them in bowl with the Turnip Top-Cime di Rapa Pesto and the tomatoes, and stir all together.

Open some of the mussels and save some of the mussels with the shells, to decorate.

Add them to the gnocchi too.

Serve your delicious gnocchi in your radicchio bowl… I’m sure that the colours and the taste will amaze your family and guests!

All done! Enjoy, and BUON APPETITO!

Nowadays, you can find really good potatoes gnocchi in the supermakets, but I want to give you also the traditional Italian recipe, if you are in the mood to make them by your own… maybe for a special Sunday lunch!

Homemade Potatoes Gnocchi

Ingredients:

• 1 Kg Potatoes
• 300g White Flour
• 1 Egg
• A pinch of Salt

Boil the potatoes with the skin for around 20-30minutes. When ready, peel the potatoes andget rid of the skin. Put the potatoes on the middle of a wooden board or a clean, dry countertop.  Add the flour and the egg and knead the dough, until soft, but not for too long, otherwise it will become gooey or dense. Roll the dough, and using a pastry cutter or non-serrated knife, cut dough ropes into 1-2cm pieces. Ready!