summer time

It's such an amazing feeling to know that summer is here, almost. Though here in the midwest we didn't get a spring season this year; summer is certainly something to look forward to. Their are farmer's markets, picnics in the parks, short walks in the evening, fresh fruits and vegetables and most importantly fresh tomatoes and basil sauce for my gnocchi.

Speaking of gnocchi, I had left over gnocchi from my first attempt that I had to use before I forgot. The first thing that came to mind was tomato basil sauce. Though the hubby wanted a bechamel sauce with the gnocchi I wasn't convinced on the idea. And if I am cooking, what I say goes. Ha! Not really but I'd been craving a tomato and basil sauce for some time. Because he isn't a fan of tomato sauce, tomato curry, tomato anything for that matter; we don't cook it as often. This time, it would be nothing but.... Unfortuantely my local market didn't have fresh basil that day so I used dried. (I know, not good but I made an exception)

Gnocchi: use this previously posted recipe.

Sauce:

Olive oil
1 small onion or shallot
2 garlic cloves
1 tomato, diced
1/4 teaspoon sugar, optional
1/4 cup red wine
1 teaspoon dried basil or 3-4 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
Salt, divided
Red pepper flakes
1 cup stock or water (cooking liquid)

Drizzle saute pan with olive oil and turn on the heat to medium-low. Add chopped onions and garlic to saute for few minutes. Then add salt to the mixture and cook until onions are translucent. Add diced tomatoes, increase heat to medium and cook until the mixture starts bubbling. Add sugar and wine and allow to cook until alcohol evaporates. (the sugar breaks down the tomatoes' strong acidity.) Lower heat to low, add basil, salt, red pepper flakes and cooking liquid. Cook for 20-25 minutes until sauce is thickened.

Add gnocchi to the sauce, cook for few minutes and serve. We had this with a salad and it was the best way to have gnocchi and tomato basil sauced combined. Even the hubby agreed.

note: this recipe yields 1/2 cup of sauce, perfect amount for the amount of our gnocchi.

Since gnocchi is a form of pasta, this post is my submission to Ruth's exceptional pasta cooking event, Presto Pasta Night. Go check it out and join the pasta cooking fun. The weekly event is fun to read and offers great pasta recipes. It's a great resource for me, as I hope it is for you.

I made Gnocchi?

Couple days ago I had a "I must try to make this dish" moment. A strong inkling for me usually means revamping a favorite recipe or trying something new. This time it was the latter. I read blogs, cookbooks, websites about gnocchi but never tried making it. With the precise steps and very few ingredients, the thought of making it was terrifying. On several occasions I thought, if I make a mistake, there's no turning back and I couldn't just add ingredients to cover up the mess. It was scary. I was intimidated to make gnocchi at home. However I knew I had a large bowl full of left over mashed potatoes. I made mashed potatoes to go with scallops and caramelized onions. That dish was good but not a favorite. Since gnocchi consists of boiled or baked potatoes, mashed, I found this and this recipe. As nervous as I was, I convinced myself to make it for dinner. And that is how gnocchi with sage butter emerged in our house for the first time.

Gnocchi

1 1/2 cups left over mashed potatoes
1/2 - 3/4 cups Flour, divided
1 Egg
pinch of salt

Sauce:
3 tablespoons Butter
10 sage leaves
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan
ground white pepper

Put the mashed potatoes through a sieve. From my research the best product for this is a potato ricer but since I don't plan on investing in one, sieve with bigger net holes works fine. Don't use a fine sieve, because the potatoes won't pass. Dust countertop with some flour and spread potatoes on the counter top. Make a well in the potatoes. Then add 1 egg, 1/2 cup of flour and salt. Knead the dough. Add additional flour to the dough or countertop, if necessary. Dough should be soft but not sticky. Divide the ball of dough in quarters.

Lightly flour hands and counter. Take each quarter and roll out with hands to make a rope. The rope should be 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut the ropes in 1/2- 3/4 inch pieces. Using a fork and your thumb, gently press each piece into the back of the fork with your thumb. It will have fork marks on one side and slight indentation on the other. As the pieces are formed, lay them on a dusted or parchment papered cookie sheet.

I froze half of mine for another special night. I smell tomato and basil sauce in the air...

To cook the gnocchi bring a pot of water to boil. Add salt to the water when it comes to a bubble. Then add some gnocchi to the boiling water. (Do not over crowd or they will stick to each other or the bottom of the pot). As they rise to the top, remove with a slotted spoon. Repeat until all are cooked.

To make the sauce; melt butter on medium heat in a medium saute pan. When it bubbles, add sage and let it cook and crisp for 1 minute. Add cooked gnocchi to the pan. Cook the gnocchi with the sauce for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes on each side. This will brown the gnocchi. Serve hot.



Thanks to epicurious, Elise and few other googled recipes, I made gnocchi for the first time with great success! Though intimidating at first it's really simple and worth the time and effort. I'll definitely add it to my repertoire.



Because of the great flavor combination of sage and butter for the sauce, this is my contribution to the Weekend Herb Blogging cooking event hosted by Sher at What did you eat.

Weekend Herb Blogging was invented by Kalyn to increase herb usage in the our daily cooking. It has been a huge success because bloggers all around the world contribute to the event.