Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi

I've been on a gnocchi kick lately. These were very good. LOVED the spinach in them. I made the recipe a bit healthier by using part skim ricotta and whole wheat flour. I also served it with broccoli mixed in. Loved the simplicity of the sauce that really let the gnocchi dominate. This was really pretty easy and the only time consuming part was forming the gnocchi. But, well worth it!

Spinach Ricotta Gnocchi
Simplyrecipes.com

Gnocchi

• 3 ounces fresh or frozen spinach


• 1 egg


• 2 teaspoons salt


• 1 1/2 pounds part skim ricotta cheese, drained of excess moisture


• 1/3 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese


• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour


• Pinch of nutmeg

Sauce

• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (or whole tomatoes that you shred as you add to the pan)


• 4 Tbsp olive oil


• 2 garlic cloves, peeled


• Salt

Gnocchi

1 Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and heat until simmering. Add spinach and cook until tender, about 1 minute. Drain. Let spinach cool enough to touch, then squeeze as much moisture as you can out of it. You can also use a potato ricer if you have one to squeeze the excess moisture out of the spinach.

2 Add the spinach, egg, salt, and half of the ricotta to a food processor. Pulse until completely blended. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, mix in the remaining ricotta and the Parmesan cheese. Stir a pinch of nutmeg into the flour. Add the flour in by hand, starting with a half of the flour. Mix everything with your hands until the mixture holds together as a dough.

3 Put the dough out on a lightly floured smooth, clean surface. Knead lightly for about a minute, adding additional flour if needed, if the dough sticks too easily to the board or your hands. (At this point, if you wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for an hour, it will be easier to roll out.) When the dough is smooth and pliable, and still just a little bit sticky, divide it into 4 portions, each the size of an orange.

4 Flour your hands lightly. Using both hands, and a light touch, roll the dough out with a back and forth motion, starting at the center and stretching the dough out, to form a roll. This is the tricky part. You don't want to put so much pressure so that you compress the dough, but you do need enough pressure to create a rope of dough. The trick is to stretch the dough sideways as you are rolling. Once the segment you are working on gets to be about a foot long, you may find it easier to cut it in half, and then start working on that smaller segment.

Roll the dough out until the roll is about the size of a middle finger. (Note that if your hands or the board is a little too floured, you may not have enough traction between your skin and the dough to easily stretch it sideways.) Cut each roll into 1-inch pieces.

5 Hold a fork at a 45% angle with its tines facing down on the work board, the curved part of the fork facing away from you. Starting with the curved outside bottom of the fork, press each piece of dough up along the length of the tines. Let the gnocchi fall back down. This is a pretty quick motion, the result is an indentation of the fork tines on one side of the gnocchi, and an indentation of your fingertip on the other side.

I just squeezed a small indent in the middle of the gnocchi without making the fork indentations. Its worked well for me in the past and, well, if its not broke, don't fix it!

Place the gnocchi on a lightly floured cookie sheet. At this point they can be cooked, or kept in the refrigerator several hours or overnight.

5 To cook the gnocchi, fill a large wide pot half-way with water. Bring to a boil, add 1 teaspoon of salt for every quart of water. Once the salt has dissolved, gently drop the gnocchi in the water, one by one. Try to do this in a way that the gnocchi are not falling in on top of each other, but rest on the bottom of the pan in a single layer. As the gnocchi cooks, they will rise to the surface of the water after a couple minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the risen gnocchi from the pot, place in a serving bowl. As you remove the gnocchi, add more to the pan.

The Sauce

1 Heat oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and cook until lightly browned on all sides. Remove and discard the garlic. Add the tomatoes (include any juices from the can) all at once (careful, they may cause the oil to splatter as the tomatoes hit the pan). As soon as the mixture boils, reduce the heat to low and let simmer, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt. Stir occasionally. Use a potato masher to break up any solid pieces of tomato, you want a rough purée.

2 Once the sauce reduces to a medium thick consistency, add the goat cheese, stirring until it is well blended. Add more salt to taste.

Serve gnocchi with the sauce and extra grated Parmesan. Serves 4-6.

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter

I've been talking about Gnocchi for awhile now. I was begging Spice to make it for me, but she hasn't gotten around to it yet. When I was home for Christmas, however, LadyJayPee pulled out an article in the Seattle Times for Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter and with a few pumpkins still fresh from her garden, I knew what my dinner project was going to be!



This was no doubt a time-consuming project, but SOOOO much fun! And the finished product...WHOOOO! Boy! Have I been missing out on the gnocchi train!



Although I followed the recipe this time, next time I will make pumpkin puree the "easy" way, by cutting the pumpkin in half and baking before scraping out the insides and pureeing it in a food processor. I also drained the puree a bit through a strainer to remove the access liquid. 

My pumpkin was approximately 3 lbs instead of the recommended 1 1/2. It still worked out perfectly though!



According to Atkinson, pressing the gnocchi dough into simple discs that are thinner in the center than around the edges allows them to cook evenly, like the hole in a doughnut. Many other versions are made by rubbing the gnocchi against the tines of a fork to create shell-like nuggets.

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter
From The Seattle Times, Greg Atkinson

For the Gnocchi:
1 1/2 lbs fresh pie (sugar) pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons butter
1 to 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg, or to taste

For the sage butter:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
24 fresh sage leaves

For the garnish:
2 ounces parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste 

1. Pile the pumpkin cubes onto a rack over a cup of water in a medium-size saucepan. Steam over medium-high heat until the pumpkin is soft and tender, about 10 minutes. Lift the rack from the saucepan, discard the cooking water and allow the pumpkin to cool to room temperature. 

2. Force the steamed pumpkin through a food mill or press it through the holes of a colander. Put the puree back in the pan and stir in the 2 tablespoons of butter. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the pumpkin has thickened and dried, about 10 minutes.

3. Remove the pan from the heat and when the pumpkin puree has cooled almost to room temperature, stir in a cup of the flour, the egg yolk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. You should have a very sticky dough. Stir in another half cup of flour, then sprinkle the remaining flour onto a clean, dry surface and scrape the dough onto the flour. Knead the mixture gently, incorporating just enough flour to make a soft dough.

4. To form the gnocchi, divide the dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a rope about an inch thick and cut the rope into 12 pieces. Gently pinch each piece of dough with a well-floured thumb and forefinger to make a concave dumpling. Place the formed gnocchi in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If you're not going to cook them immediately, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the gnocchi for up to 4 hours or freeze them for several days.

5. When you're ready to cook the gnocchi, bring a gallon of water with a tablespoon of salt to a boil. Cook the gnocchi in several batches (I did about 15 at a time) in the boiling water until they rise to the surface of the water, about 3 minutes. Life the gnocchi out of the water with a slotted spoon and hold them on a warm platter. Toss with gnocchi with the butter sauce. Use a vegetable peeler to cut curls of Parmesan over the top of the dish and top with a few grinds of fresh pepper.

6. To make the butter sauce, melt the butter in a small skillet over low heat. Add the sage leaves and simmer until the butter turns golden.

Greek Tortellini Salad

This pasta salad and I are now BFFs (best friends forever). We just got along swimmingly! I loved everything about it! The dressing just perfectly complemented all the ingredients and there was such a wonderful tang when you bit into a tortellini! I used three cheese tortellini, but I'm sure any will do. It would no doubt be extra fun to make your own tortellini for this too! I made this as a side dish for 3 people and we had more than enough left over for my lunch the next day. I'm making plans as we speak to make and devour more of this salad, thats how good it is!

Greek Tortellini Salad
Adapted from All Recipes

1 9-oz package tortellini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh parsely
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup slivered red onion

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add tortellini, and cook for 7 minutes or until al dente; drain.

In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, parsley, oregano, and salt. Place the cooked tortellini in the bowl, and toss to coat. Cover, and chill at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Place eggs in a saucepan with enough water to cover, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and allow eggs to sit in the hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, cool, peel, and quarter.

Gently mix the spinach, feta cheese, and onion into the bowl with the pasta. Arrange the quartered eggs around the salad to serve.

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

There's nothing like making a huge batch of pasta to have for lunches all week long. And this Orzo Salad did just the trick. In fact, I had more than was enough for a weeks worth of lunches! I love most foods Greek/Mediterranean so I knew I would like this one which has a great addition of vegetables. I'd never had orzo before, but what a unique little pasta! This would really be good with any kind of pasta and I may try penne next time. This recipe would be great for a picnic or another potluck-type gathering.

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, a great resource for new recipes!

Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Tasty Kitchen

16 ounces, weight Orzo Pasta

1 whole Red Pepper, Chopped

1 whole Medium Tomato Chopped

½ cups Kalamata Olives, Chopped

1 cup Fresh Spinach, Finely Chopped

½ cups Fresh Basil, Finely Chopped

½ cups Feta Crumbles

1 dash Salt

1 dash Pepper

½ cups Olive Oil

½ cups Balsamic Vinegar

Cook orzo according to package directions. Rinse with cold water and drain. In a large bowl, toss pasta with chopped bell pepper, tomato, olives, spinach, basil and feta. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil and vinegar. Pour over pasta vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Chill before serving.

Pad Thai

My obsession with pad thai started out innocently enough. My friend India and I wanted to go get sushi one night. So we went to Lili's on 57th, which they call "Asian Cuisine and Sushi Bar". If you like Asian food I highly recommend going here if you are in the city. It is super fresh and the variety of food on the menu is overwhelming.

Anywhoo, India and I are ravenous and checking out the menu for which rolls we want (which is silly because we always get spicy tuna of some kind) and we decide we want some noodles to go with it. So we order some pad thai. I took one bite and decided it was my new favorite food. And from that day on, India and I would go to Lili's at least once a week and order spicy tuna rolls and pad thai. And lived happily ever after. The end.

Just kidding!

I finally mustered up some courage to try my hand at pad thai one drizzly night. I couldn't find rice noodles in my grocery store (which was poor planning because there are several other grocery stores I could have tried at), so I used whole wheat linguini noodles. I also didn't include shrimp, because, saddly, I am allergic. Actually, not that sad, shrimp is too fishy for me. And I added some broccoli because its delicious. And please don't forget/leave out the lime juice. It really gives the dish the final kick it needs! And we all want a final kick, right?

This was a very basic pad thai recipe, but sure did the trick for me. Even with the whole wheat noodles, which definitely made it a bit heavier, the asian flavors definitely shined through! Which was exactly what I was looking for. I was slightly nervous to use fish sauce because it just sounds gross, but I persevered and it was worth it!

Pad Thai from Family Fun

1/2 pound dried rice noodles, linguine width (or whole wheat linguini)

1/4 cup Asian fish sauce

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes (optional)

1 egg, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

1 cup shredded carrot

2 cups fresh bean sprouts

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1 cup cut broccoli

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add the noodles and turn off the heat. Let them stand for 10 minutes, using tongs or two forks to separate the strands as they soften and turn from translucent ivory to white. Drain the noodles, rinse them well in cold water, and drain again. Set them aside. If using linguini noodles, cook as directed on package until slightly underdone.

In a small bowl, stir together the Asian fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, water, and chili flakes if desired, until the sugar dissolves and everything is well mixed. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add the egg and scramble it as it cooks just until it is no longer runny, about 30 seconds. Transfer the egg to a plate.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and swirl it around. Add the garlic and toss well. Add the chicken and cook it until the edges have mostly changed color, about 1 minute. Toss it well and continue cooking to brown it, about 30 seconds, then push it to the sides.  Add the carrot and broccoli and cook everything about 1 minute. Scoop the chicken, broccoli, and carrot into a bowl, leaving as much oil as possible in the pan.

Swirl the last tablespoon of oil in the pan. When it's hot, add the noodles, spreading them to the edges. Cook for 1 minute, until the oil sizzles. Scoop up the noodles and turn them over in a big mass. Cook them another minute, then turn them again.

Pour the sauce mixture around the sides of the pan. When it sizzles, place the cooked chicken, carrot and broccoli on the noodles, along with the bean sprouts, scallions, and cooked egg. Gently scoop the noodles from the bottom and turn them over. Continue tossing them to mix in the chicken, carrot, broccoli and egg. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the lime juice and toss the noodles well. Serve the Pad Thai hot or warm. Serves 4.

Edamame Vegetable Pasta

As you can tell, I don't branch out much. Here is another pasta dish I made to bring for lunches the rest of this week. It turned out well last night and was really good as lunch today, too! Next time I may add more lemon juice, but other than that, delish!

I couldn't find ricotta salata, so I just used feta. How can you go wrong with feta? Duh. You can't!

Edamame Vegetable Pasta
Martha Stewart

1 cup frozen, shelled edamame
10 ounces asparagus, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 lb. whole wheat pasta
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/3 cup dry white wine
Finely grated zest of lemon, plus 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 teaspoons course salt
2 cups baby arugula
6 oz. grape tomatoes
Feta cheese
2 tablespoons chopped chives

Cook edamame and asparagus in boiling water until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta; cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid; set aside.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot; cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add wine; bring mixture to a boil. Cook until liquid is reduced by half. Add lemon juice, edamame, asparagus, pasta, and 1 cup reserved liquid; sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Toss well. Add arugula and tomatoes; toss. Top with ricotta salata and chives. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons oil; sprinkle with lemon zest and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and season with pepper.

Vegetable Lasagna

I had some friends come over to watch So You Think You Can Dance last night. If you don't watch the show you should, because there are some fierce dancers on it! And if you do watch the show...who do you want to win? I am rooting for Kayla...she has A-Mazing extensions and control, not to mention miles of personality!

Anyways, I made lasagna for dinner. I admit it. I was a lasagna virgin. I was nervous, but pushed through. It was worth it. Yum! I will be eating these leftovers happily for the next several days!

Vegetable Lasagna
Adapted from All Recipes

1 package whole wheat lasagna noodles
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup chopped bell pepper (I used red)
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup sliced zucchini
3/4 cup sliced carrot
Spinach
3 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 jar pasta sauce (I added basil, garlic, pepper and cayenne to my store-bought sauce)
1 (15-ounce) container part-skim ricotta cheese
3 cups shredded mozzarella
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese



Cook the lasagna noodles according to directions on box. Drain and rinse with cold water.

In a large saucepan, cook and stir mushrooms, bell pepper, onion, zucchini, carrot, garlic and oil. Stir in pasta sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer 15 minutes.

Mix together ricotta, 2 cups mozzarella and eggs.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread tomato sauce into the bottom of a greased 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Layer 1/2 each, lasagna noodles, ricotta mix, spinach, sauce. Repeat layering and top with remaining mozzarella cheese and Parmesan.

Bake for about 40 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Vegetable Pasta

When I was in college, my roommates and I lived on pasta, Totino's frozen pizza (they're $1!)and ice cream. Everyone had always told me college would probably be my most unhealthy phase in life. I didn't think so at the time, but looking back, it couldn't be more true!

Although I am still crazy poor, I budget to get as many fresh vegetables in as possible. That is not to say that I still don't sometimes subsist on pasta and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but I have learned to add whole grain to the bread, natural peanut butter and vegetables with pasta.

This is one of those dishes I can put together in a snap, is fairly cheap and gets my veggies in! I based the recipe on this one on All Recipes. I add whatever vegetables strike me at the store (or whichever ones are on sale!)

Vegetable Pasta

Whole wheat pasta (I use everything from linguini noodles, to penne and bowtie)

1 large tomato, chopped

Chopped spinach

Fresh basil leaves

2 cloves of garlic

Asparagus, chopped

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk

Grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta as instructed on box.

Combine the tomatoes, spinach, basil, garlic and asparagus in a large saucepanover medium heat. Cook until vegetables are tender.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour and milk. Stir into the saucepan with the vegetables along with the cheese. Reduce temp and allow sauce to thicken.

Top drained pasta with vegetables and sauce.