For most Jews, Passover is torture. It's eight days of variations of dry, flat crackers and reheated brisket. Leavened foodstuffs aren't the only things outlawed; so are ingredients like corn, rice and beans. For vegetarians, this holiday isn't just eight days of crackers-it's a week-long protein deficiency. The result is a week that pushes chefs to their skills' limits. Nothing evidences this more than the seemingly infinite number of cookbooks solely devoted to unleavened cuisine. And, at this time every year, every newspaper's food section and every gourmet magazine dedicates space to a few recipes on spicing up your Passover meal. With a bit of creativity, you can concoct some amazing dishes to get you safely through the week.

A favorite of mine is potato gnocchi. Traditionally, gnocchi, which are small Italian dumplings, are made with as little flour as possible to yield the lightest result. By substituting the flour with a mixture of cake meal and potato flour, this recipe becomes perfect for Passover.

Begin by boiling the potatoes until they are tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the water, let cool, peel and mash. Plop the potatoes down on a large, flat surface that has been dusted with some potato flour. Make a well in the potatoes, pour in the potato flour and the cake meal and top with the egg and a dash of salt. Using your hands, mix and knead the dough until it is soft and not too sticky to work with. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes to let the flavors and flours meld.

Cut up the dough into four pieces, and roll each piece into a long, sausage shape, about three-fourths of an inch thick. Using a knife and some additional potato flour if things start to get sticky, cut the long rolls into half inch pieces. Press down slightly on each piece with a fork to give them pronged indentations. Boil the gnocchi in a large pot of boiling water, waiting an additional minute after they rise to the surface.

As always with gnocchi, the dish is meant to highlight the sauce, so put some care into what you pour on top. Use your favorite marinara, or saut some chopped fresh tomatoes with olive oil, garlic, mushrooms, white wine and a couple of tablespoons of heavy cream thrown in at the last minute.

Another great standby is pesto. Place the basil leaves, garlic, olive oil and pine nuts in a blender, and pure. Transfer the mixture to a sauce pan, and heat until warm. Toss with the pasta, grate on plenty of Parmesan cheese, and serve with a warm, crusty loaf of... umm... matzah.



Passover Potato Gnocchi
-3 medium potatoes
-1/3 cup cake meal
-1/2 cup potato flour
-1 egg
-Salt to taste
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-5 tbsp olive oil


Pesto Sauce
-1 and 1/2 cups basil leaves
-3 cloves garlic
-1/2 cup olive oil
-3 tbsp pine nuts
-Plenty of Parmesan cheese
-Salt and pepper to taste