Anyone who has met me knows I am very proud of my Italian heritage. And anyone who has ever worked with me knows a day doesn’t go by when I don’t eat Italian food. Lasagna for breakfast? All the time. Pizza at any hour and at any temperature? I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

But the quintessential Italian dish in my mind is gnocchi. It’s the first pasta Grandma Gossie taught me how to make at age 6. It’s the dish that defined every memorable family gathering of my childhood. Gnocchi, to me, is the dish by which great Italian restaurants, professional chefs and home cooks — like me — are judged.