Hana Kitchens - The Gnocchi Class + Dinner & Wine Tasting

I was super excited when @Melissa808 invited me to a gnocchi making class at Hana Kitchens. I love any kind of cooking or baking class, but the icing on the cake was that the night of fun included a four-course dinner and wine tasting!

Located in downtown Harbor Court, Hana Kitchens is home to many sold out cooking classes; but that's not all. Joe Di Condina, founder of Hana Kitchens, explains the business is primarily a culinary incubator; helping food entrepreneurs by giving them a physical space to safely make food using their commercial kitchen facilities. They are currently in the process of expanding to include the HANA Show Kitchen and room for keiki classes.  

Our gnocchi class was led by Chef Andrea Onetti. Chef began the class with a lesson of the different regional variations of gnocchi followed by a demonstration of making fresh potato gnocchi from scratch. He also demonstrated two gnocchi dishes: gnocchi alla nerano and gnocchi alla Romana con pomodoro e salsiccia. Every person in the class makes their own gnocchi from scratch at their individual stations. It's a great interactive way to learn something new from an expert and it was really fun.  

Melissa working the dough.

Dough gets the final approval!

Chef Andrea preparing the gnocchi alla Romana con pomodoro e salsiccia

Pan frying the gnocchi and preparing sauce

My favorite part of the class was eating the delicious four-course meal prepared by Chef Andrea: canapé starter, mozzarella in carrozza appetizer, the two gnocchi dishes demonstrated in the class, two wine pairings, and a panna cotta dessert.  It was delicious! The Hana Kitchens classes are perfect for a girls night out, date night, or just to learn something fun and new! Currently, they have two classes for September: a Kebabs class and a Pasta class. Click here to sign up! 

Tasty cucumber canape.

Mozzarella in carrozza

Students helped plate the dishes.

Our first dish: gnocchi alla nerano with a white wine pairing.

Plating for 18 people.

Second dish: gnocchi alla Romana con pomodoro e salsiccia.

Panna Cotta for dessert. A delicious way to end a great class and dinner!

Hana Kitchens

55 Merchant Street, Ste. 20

Honolulu, HI 96813

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Pandemic Cooking - Cream Cheese Pasta

I’m still trying to use up cream cheese that I overbought, and I decided to turn it in pasta sauce.

It’s the easiest, and turned out so tasty. The kids loved it, even with spinach!  They said it reminded them of mac n' cheese!

Just heat in a sauce pan on medium-high heat 1/4 c olive oil, 1 8 oz block of cream cheese, and 3 T garlic powder until it’s a smooth consistency.

Throw in cooked pasta (I cooked a 16 oz box of Tri-Color Rotini - that’s the only pasta I had on hand), 2 cups of spinach, and 1 c chopped bacon.

Heat until spinach is cooked down and pasta is coated with the cream cheese sauce.

Easy & delicious!

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Spinach Pesto Pasta

I love pesto.  The one time I tried making it years and years ago, it didn't turn out as good as I hoped it would.  I recently gave pesto another shot, but this time tried making a spinach pesto, based on this recipe from Allrecipes.

It turned out so yummy!

I tossed some spaghetti and chicken in the pesto, and it was a hit - my kids ate it up (and my middle son had three servings!).

The next day I even mixed some of the leftover pesto with mayo to make a spread for grilled sandwiches.  So delicious!

Spinach Pesto Pasta (pesto recipe adapted from Allrecipes)

Pesto Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c spinach leaves
• 3/4 c fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered
• 3/4 t sea salt
• 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1 T fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil

1 12 oz package spaghetti, cooked

1 lb chicken, cooked and chopped

Directions:

• Blend all pesto ingredients until smooth.  
• Toss cooked spaghetti and chicken in spinach pesto.

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