I’m going to admit this pasta dish rocks. I’m also going to admit I didn’t use anyone’s recipe it came together as I started to plan it.

I have written down both the recipe for the sauce and the pasta as best I can. I hope it comes together for you like it did for me.

I think the sauce is amazing and could easily be translated to a fettuccine or something.

The Creamy Pancetta Sage Sauce

• 4 ounces diced pancetta (Wegmans sells it)

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 2 small vidalia onions chopped

• 1 small red hot pepper diced (no seeds!)

• 2 ears of cooked corn off the cob

• 2 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

• 1/2 cup dry white wine

• 1 pint light cream (2 cups)

• 2 tablespoons Wondra flour (super fine for sauces)

• 2/3 cup fine grated Parmesan

Melt the butter. Add the onion and the red pepper and some salt to taste. Add the corn. Chop fine the fresh sage and add that. Cook until the onion starts to get translucent.

This should all be low to the bare minimum of medium heat. You don’t want anything to burn.

Add the flour. Stir briskly in the pan so nothing sticks and the flour is absorbed.

Add the wine. Stir briskly. Let that cook for a minute or two and add the light cream.

Allow the sauce to come together and stir constantly until an even warm temperature. You want it to come to almost a boil but not a boil because you don’t want to scald the cream.

Add the Parmesan cheese gradually till all incorporate it and let it cook on low a little while longer. Let it cook down, and it will cook down some and thicken a bit. It doesn’t get stand your spoon upright thick, but it thickens in consistency.

Gnocchi

The gnocchi are an approximation. I make my pasta by feel.

• 1 1/2 cups of leftover mashed sweet potatoes.
• 2 cups of semolina flour
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• A few dashes of extra-virgin olive oil

Combine everything in a bowl and bring your dough together. After everything is evenly mixed place a damp cloth over the bowl that your dough is in and let it rest for an hour.

Roll out between your hands thin “snakes” of dough and with a sharp knife cut even sized bite-size pieces.

Your pasta should be laid out on a baking sheet covered with a silicone baking pad. You should have enough for two layers of bite-size pieces and the layers should be separated with parchment paper and covered with parchment paper and a linen towel and put in your refrigerator until you are ready to cook your pasta.

Fresh gnocchi only take a few scant minutes to cook in boiling water. They will rise to the surface as they cook.

As you remove your gnocchi add a little bit of sauce in between and then finish with sauce on top.

Mangia!