“Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links.”
I went aboard Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Ascent expecting a cooking class—I left questioning whether I’m even truly Italian.
Celebrity Cruises invited me to sail on its Celebrity Ascent ship and try one of its hands-on cooking classes, where a real Italian nonna—or grandma—walked us through making gnocchi from scratch. And while I obviously came away with a plate of pasta, I also picked up a surprising number of helpful techniques that I’m absolutely bringing back into my own kitchen.
Gnocchi was the focus of our savory class, and according to our nonna, it’s traditionally the kind of dish you’d make on Sundays. But before we even got to shaping the dough, I was already learning things.
Peel Your Potatoes While They’re Still Hot
First lesson: Don’t wait to peel your potatoes.
Our instructor explained that potatoes are much easier to peel while they’re still hot. It’s a small thing, but if you’ve ever stood over a potato, aggressively scraping at skin that refuses to come off, this alone is a useful tip.
Once the potatoes were ready, we moved on to the dough, and that’s when I learned your hands are arguably your most important kitchen tool.
Your Hands Can Tell You More Than A Spoon
When making gnocchi, my temporary nonna stressed the importance of working the dough by hand. It’s easier to feel whether it needs more flour or egg when you’re actually touching it rather than relying entirely on a utensil.
She also explained that while some nonnas skip the egg entirely, using some is traditional. From there, the goal is to get the consistency right without overcomplicating things.
Then came the advice I heard repeatedly throughout the class: flour, flour, flour.
Once the dough is ready, roll it into long snake shapes, keeping them as even in size as possible. Plenty of flour keeps everything from sticking while you cut and shape the individual gnocchi.
The Pasta Shape Actually Has A Purpose
You can keep your gnocchi relatively simple, but adding texture matters.
We learned the traditional fork method, rolling the gnocchi along the tines to create ridges, but you can also use your finger to make small indentations. Either way, the goal is to give the sauce somewhere to go.
And honestly, anything that results in more sauce sticking to my pasta is a technique I can support.
Gnocchi Literally Tells You When It’s Ready
This may have been my favorite gnocchi lesson of the day because it removes a lot of the guesswork. Drop them into boiling water and watch. As soon as the gnocchi float to the top, take them out.
There’s no cutting one open, no standing over the pot wondering whether another minute will somehow improve things—once they rise, they’re ready.
Add Basil After You Turn Off The Heat
The sauce portion of the class gave me just as many culinary musings to consider.
One of the biggest: Turn off the heat before adding your basil. According to our instructor, adding basil after you turn off the heat helps preserve its flavor instead of cooking it away.
She also had another basil rule I had genuinely never heard before: Don’t use metal to tear it. Instead, use your hands or a ceramic tool. She explained that metal can cause the basil to oxidize, so tearing it by hand is the better move.
And when you’re actually picking basil, go for the smaller, younger leaves near the top of the plant rather than the big leaves at the bottom. Apparently, I’ve been treating basil with nowhere near enough consideration.
Garlic & Onion Don’t Belong Together
This was probably the most controversial lesson of the class for me.
Our nonna told us that, as a general rule in Italian cooking, you use garlic or onion—not both. Her explanation was simple: They “fight each other.”
Considering how many recipes I’ve made that start by throwing both into a pan, this felt mildly life-changing.
My nonna’s tomato sauce recipe uses no garlic at all. Just tomatoes, onion, olive oil, and basil. And that simplicity was kind of the point.
Tomato Sauce Does Not Need To Be Complicated
The tomato sauce technique is the one I’m most likely to recreate at home. Start by dropping the tomatoes into boiling water for about a minute. That loosens the skin enough that you can peel it off easily by hand.
Once peeled, put the tomatoes in a bowl and mash them, but don’t purée them completely; leave some chunks for texture. From there, cook them with onion and olive oil. That’s it.
No giant ingredient list, and no throwing every spice in the cabinet into the pot. Once the sauce is finished cooking, turn off the heat and add your basil.
The result was simple, fresh, and exactly the kind of sauce that makes you realize how many unnecessary ingredients you sometimes add at home.
My Biggest Takeaway
What surprised me most about the class wasn’t any single recipe—it was how many techniques simply came down to paying closer attention to the food in front of you.
Feel the gnocchi dough instead of blindly following a measurement. Watch for the pasta to float instead of staring at a timer. Leave the tomatoes chunky. Tear the basil with your hands. Let just a handful of ingredients actually shine.
I went into the class hoping to learn how to make gnocchi. I left with a running list of little rules that will pop into my head every time I cook Italian food from now on (although I’m still emotionally processing the idea that I’ve apparently been making garlic and onion duke it out my entire life).
You Might Also Like
