Pasta-making is an art of cooking in Italy that is handed down through generations, and for one night Cornell students participated in this fascinating tradition. Anna Rita Flati, the Administrative Director for the Cornell in Rome Program, was kind enough to teach interested students about the path to creating a perfect gnocchi.
The beauty of pasta, of course, is in its simplicity. The basic rules for creating gnocchi, or “lumps” in Italian, were quite simple. The flour was created with a mixture of potato and flour, and all most students had to do was simply roll and knead the dough!
The constant preparation of the dough would continue for a very long period of time. In between, Anna Rita would be flooded with questions about her cooking techniques, and students would come and go, depending on how much they were dying of hunger!
In the end, though, everyone was happily fed with plate after plate of gnocchi. Anna Rita crafted a variety of different sauces to complement our very own student-made pasta. Cooking is not only a great tradition, but a fun way to get out of class!