96-Year-Old Isolina Makes Gnocchi with Basil Pesto!

My name is Isolina and I prepare gnocchi for pesto. Isolina is 96 years old and lives in Deiva Marina, Liguria. She's making gnocchi with basil pesto. The climate in Liguria and the popularity of basil means this herb is grown year round. The smell in these greenhouses is wonderful. This is Nicola Daneri's market garden. It's devoted to the production of basilico genovese, the best variety with which to make basil pesto. I had to buy some for Isolina. Isolina still lives in her own home up several flights of stairs which keep her very fit. They're sold with their roots on so the leaves last longer. She's using around 400 grams of zero zero flour. She pours over a little olive oil with some tepid water and then mixes them into the flour. She has already boiled six red skin potatoes. She keeps them whole as this way they absorb less water while they cook. Isolina peels them. She then puts them through a ricer. The flour and the potatoes should be kneaded just as long as it takes to mix the two properly together and no longer. As a youngster Isolina had a variety of manual jobs. If she didn't make 400 floor tiles in a day she wasn't paid. She cuts her dough into chunks and gently rolls each one into a rope. Her large knife is from the times when she had to prepare rabbits and chickens for cooking. She slices each rope into bite-sized pieces. Keeping everything well floured Isolina rolls them down the tines of her fork to create She spreads them out on a tray while she makes the pesto. Isolina pounds two handfuls, that's about 50 grams, of pine nuts with one garlic clove and some rock salt. Her mortar is made with marble and her pestle is made with chestnut wood. In goes a large bunch of basil. Isolina of course does everything by eye. She's not happy with her small mortar but her large one was stolen from the landing. She adds 30 month aged parmigiano cheese but doesn't like to include pecorino sardo. I cannot resist a taste. Isolina adds some olive oil to her cooking water. She dumps the gnocchi into the pan and gives them a stir to stop them from sticking. Isolina then spreads some pesto across her serving platter. Her copper scoop is from Bergamo where her family was from originally. Daughter Gabriella holds the platter and Isolina drains the gnocchi when they've bobbed to the surface. Isolina loosens the pesto with a bit of cooking water. She stirs it through the gnocchi. These are absolutely delicious. Isolina enjoys her well-earned lunch with a glass of wine mixed with a little water. Tune in next week for Giuseppina's rustic rice dish called panisa.