09/05/2026
🍽️ Recipe Review: Nom Nom Nom Gnocchi! 🍽️
This week, kids in Sticky Fingers Cooking classes coast to coast created a simple, tasty recipe: Butternut Squash Gnocchi (pronounced NYOH-kee), an Italian variety of dumpling! First, with Chef Instructor help, our kid chefs brought water and salt to boil for the gnocchi. Then, kids measured out flour, salt, nutmeg, grated Parmesan cheese, a package of thawed frozen butternut squash, and one egg into a large bowl. Then they mixed everything together to form a dough. Kids rolled the dough out into long, even ropes or "snakes." Then, they cut their "snakes" into chunks and shaped their gnocchi. After cooking the gnocchi in the boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, they drained the gnocchi and set it aside.
A fun kid quote this week:
💬 “My mom looked up last week’s recipe, and this one is even better!”
Our chefs topped the gnocchi with Minty Kale Pesto! Our recipe included fun pesto alternatives like kale, mint, and sunflower seeds! First kids chopped up kale, garlic, and mint leaves and added them to a food processor or blender. Then kids squeezed in lemon juice and measured out olive oil, salt, and sunflower seeds. Kids blended the mixture until smooth, then stirred in Parmesan cheese, tasting and adjusting the flavor. Kids then tossed the warm gnocchi with the pesto before serving! "Buon appetito" (Bwohn ap-peh-TEE-toe) or "Enjoy your meal" in Italian.
To wash it all down, kids whipped up Frozen Mint Lemonade! Our chefs squeezed the juice of 2 lemons into a blender, added mint leaves, sugar, water, and ice, then blended until thick. "Salute" (sah-LOO-teh) or "Cheers" in Italian!
One recipe. Coast-to-coast smiles. That’s the power of cooking with kids. "Mangia bene!" ("Eat well"), as they say in Italy! 🌎✨
