The Good of Gnocchi

I love pasta, and of course, also love these little balls of springy, fluffy potatoes. The gnocchi at Maggiano's with simple tomato sauce is one of those consistent dishes that is perfect every time you have it, and every few months, you recall those mooments of popping one of the sauce covered potato fluffs into you mouth and you want some immediately. I don't crave pasta from a restaurant very often but this dish I do. 

The very first time I found gnocchi at the store, I got a little giddy, bought additional ingredients to make a good sauce, and of course, forgot what I needed from the store and left without completing my list because all I could think about was GNOCCHI.  Bleh, what a disappointment!  Nothing is better than the restaurant but it wasn't even close. Maybe it was the high expectation set of finding this in the store and thinking this must be good. 

During my holiday stay at my sister's house, we didn't have anything planned for dinner, and I was looking through one of the many food blogs I read.  We saw a post on homemade gnocchi and it looked so easy and even better - only four ingredients, all of which we had leftover from Christmas dinner.  First mistake - don't think just because there are few ingredients, that this isn't labor intensive or time consuming, because it is. In my case, about 45 minutes longer than I thought!

They were good but not as good as I had hoped. The gnocchi itself lacked a little flavor, and next time, I will bump it up with some additional seasoning and maybe fresh herbs rolled into the dough. Also, I overcooked the gnocchi. There's no time limit on how long they cook before they are done. Many blogs will say, the gnocchi tells you when they are ready - they float to the top.  I put the first few in, turned around to get more and when I was about to put more into the water, the first ones I put in were already floating!  Seriously, can it really be ready in less than a minute?  I didn't think so and left them to cook much longer, and ultimately, took out that chewy, springiness that is the good of gnocchi.  That said, I think I will be venturing on a gnocchi adventure and try out several versions over the next few months. 

Homemade Gnocchi

Serves 8-10 (I froze half and cooked half to serve 5)

Recipe adapted from Bitchcamero

For the gnocchi:

4 potatoes, boiled with skin on for about 45 minutes

2 large eggs

1 tsp salt

2.5-3 cups cake flour

For the sauce:

1 jar of marinara sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp of sugar

1-2 tsp of garlic powder

1-2 tsp of dried oregano

S&P

Grated parmesan cheese

1. After you take out the potatoes, you can easily peel off the skin with a fork. Then, you can use your fork and fluff them into pieces.  Don't mash is what bitchencamero suggests since you want that extra "fluff." 

2. Whisk eggs with the salt. Once done, sprinkle flour on the counter and on your hands.  Make a little tire of the potatoes and poru the whisked eggs and pour into the middle concave spot. Slowly mix the potatoes together. Then add in 1/2 cup of flour and keep mixing with your hands. I keep adding 1/2 cups of flour until it forms a good ball.

3. Then, cut into pieces and start rolling into a small log - diameter about 1/2 inch.  Then using your fork, just cut into pieces and with the prongs of your fork, make that typical gnocchi indention. It's okay if your first few, well, 20, gnocchi looks like mushed pasta. It takes a little trial and error to get it right. I placed these on an cookie sheet.

4. Heat a bit pot of water to boil.  Add salt.  Then, in another large sauce pan, add the olive oil and garlic until the aroma starts to really kick in.  Pour in the marinara sauce (you can also substitute with a large can of whole tomatoes and a 1/2 can of tomato paste. You will just need to season a tad more.) and let it cook for another few minutes. Put heat to medium and then start adding the seasoning - S&P, oregano, garlic powder and sugar. Keep tasting and adding necessary seasoning to your liking. I went heavy on the oregano, dash of garlic powder and if the sauce was a little flat or too tart, I added in another tsp of sugar. Sugar is that key ingredient in tomato sauce!

5. Once the water is boiling, put in the gnocchi to cook.  Realize that once they float to the top, they are done.  Don't overcook like I did.  If I did this right, these things should have been taken out in less than 5 minutes.

6. When gnocchi is done, strain out the gnocchi and put directly into the pasta sauce.  Mix it well and for serving later, add grated parmesan cheese on top.  Parsley would have also been a nice touch.

Lobster Linguini

This year, we decided to go the non-traditional route with our dinner and have surf and turf - with the custom hot pot, of course.  I must say, Lobstah, was delicious!  So happy!  I haven't had lobster in a very long time and for a moment, I did wish I didn't have it so in the future, I'd be all sad I can't have it on a daily basis. 

Anyways, we saved all the lobster shells and the next say, I use those shells to make a delicious and flavorful stock for some seafood linguini. Can be a tad time consuming but I think it's well worth it - getting as much as possible outta those expensive ocean critters. 

Sorry for the lack of photos but battery was drained from taking many pictures of my niece and it was charging during this time.

Lobster Linguini
Serves 5

Lobster Stock:
Leftover lobster steam water (use the leftover water you steamed the lobster in)
1-2 cups water
Lobster shells
1 can tomato paste
3 stalks celery cut into large pieces
3 carrots cut into large pieces (no need to pell)
1 onion sliced into quarters
S&P

1. Take the lobster water (if you have any), 1-2 cups water and lobster shells and put into a huge pot.  Add in the tomato paste and all the veggies.  Bring to a boil and then let it simmer on medium for a good 45 minutes.  You want all that lobster goodness to seep out into the stock.

2. Once done, drain the pot and discard all the contents other than the stock.  Put the stock into a smaller pot or the same one, and let it cook a little longer on medium to reduce down.

3. Sister was on a non-dairy diet so I used just a teeny bit of cornstarch to help thicken. I imagine this would be delicious with a tbsp of butter or a dash of cream.

Lobster Linguini
1 pkg linguini
1/4 lb of shrimp, peeled and devined
4 garlic cloves chopped
1-2 roma tomatoes cut into cubes
S&P
Small handful of chopped parsley
Lobster Stock

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil to cook the pasta. Cook pasta according to the directions. I liked the linguini but you can use any other type of pasta. 

2. In your pan with the lobster stock, bring it back up to a boil and quickly cook the shrimp in the stock.  This should only take a few minutes and it doesn't hurt that it also gives more flavor to the stock!

3. In a hot pan big enough to hold the pasta, add olive oil and the minced garlic.  Then add in the tomatoes and let them cook on medium high until they start to fall apart. Next, add in the lobster stock until well blended.  Cook for a few minutes until they are well blended and then add in the shrimp and the pasta.  Give it a good mix and to top it off, add in the parsley.  Enjoy!

Proscuitto & Fennel on Rye

For Christmas 2010, we spent it up in Southlake at Hilda's and Eric's new home. Beside the food, time was spent cooking, eating, shopping and more importantly, playing with Baby Sophie, who is THE cutest baby ever.

As you can see from my previous post, I'm a little obsessed with fennel having found this new veggie just a few months ago.  This is a very easy appetizer to put together and serve for guests while they wait for the main meal to finish cooking.  I found this recipe on Real Simple and didn't do much to it. 

Proscuitto & Fennel on Rye
Makes about 15
Recipe adapted from Real Simple

1 roll of sliced rye bread (you can use a baguette if you prefer)

3 bulbs of fennel

S&P

1/4 cup olive oil

2 lemon

1 lb sliced proscuitto

1 bunch of parsley

1. Heat oven to 250 degrees. Slightly brush olive oil on the sliced rye bread and let these toast for only a few minutes.

2. Make the fennel salad. Clean and wash the fennel, slice and toss with a lemon vinagrette (look at previous post here to learn how) and the chopped parsley.  You can added freshly grated parmesan cheese but sister is on a no milk diet due to baby's allergies!  This made significantly more than you need for these appetizers but I love having this on the side as well for a light salad. 

3. Now to assemble.  After the rye bread is done toasting, slightly pull apart proscuitto and place a nice pile on top of each slice of bread.  Top this with the fennel salad and then sprinkle just an tiny, tiny amount of S&P. Beware, you can eat several of these so make sure to limit - or you won't be hungry for your real dinner!