A boisterous crew assisted Mark Mollica (Luca, EW) with making pasta for snack today. Miles, Sammy, Lucy and Luca chopped, boiled and served a delicious basil, garlic, tomato pasta.
Mark: You add salt for two reasons. One, it makes the water hotter. Two, it gives the pasta flavor. This pasta is called Gnocchi.
Luca: Can I have one?
Sammy: Mmmm, yum, yum, yum!
I could not get all the cooking secrets but I observed this much: kosher salt in the water, Gnocchi cooked al dente (package directions), then garlic, basil, tomato simmered for a while, there was a soft sizzling sound – probably some olive oil involved but the flavor? OUT OF THIS WORLD! You can have some at La Vecchia in Santa Monica.
