Quick and Easy Gnocchi in Creamy Tomato and Spinach Sauce

I will say, I am sometimes really really good at pinch hitting.Which is funny because I am an obsessive planner who, when thrown a curve ball has a tendency to just have a wee bit of a freak out. 

I also am apparently a slow learner because I need to recognize that the idea of that guy I married having the time to make handmade pasta after work is just going to make the universe laugh at you. 

It's been busy around here... mostly for him. So, last night Pasta alla Norma was out, dear god what do we have in the fridge that I can scramble together a meal with without having to defrost anything was in. 

And this is why I keep a pack of shelf stable gnocchi in the pantry at all times. 

These measurements are a little loosey goosey, but you get the idea. Adjust to taste! If you are using shelf stable gnocchi, you can cook that while the everything else is going, just start the water boiling when you start cooking the onions and the timing should be perfect.

Gnocchi in a Creamy Tomato and Spinach Sauce

Serves 2 - Cooks in 20 minutes

2 Cups Cooked Gnocchi (shelf stable, fresh or frozen, all are fine)
1/2 White Onion, diced
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
3 Roma Tomatoes, diced
1/2 Bunch of Spinach or 1 cup frozen spinach
1/2 Cup Half and Half (or mix milk and cream as I did)
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan
1/4 - 1/2 Cup Mozzarella (I used smoked)
Salt and Pepper
Fresh Basil to finish 

In a skillet, sautee the onions in either butter or olive oil for about three minutes until softened slightly. Add in the garlic, sautee 30 seconds, then add the tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and simmer for about 8 minutes. Add the spinach, cover and cook two more minutes. Add the half and half and give it a good stir. Sitr in the gnocchi and parmesan, make sure everything is nice and coated. Now add some salt and pepper to taste. Then stir in the mozzarella, cover and cook two more minutes until the mozzarella is nice and melty. Pour onto a plate, top with fresh basil and a good grind of pepper. 

I served this as is for me, and added a grilled chicken breast for that guy I married. 

Vegetable Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

 

A long time ago I went to college with a guy named Jeff. We were friendly and I think he might have worked with me on the school newspaper for a while. At some point, we lost touch and then a couple of years later we reconnected for a short time. I don't remember a whole lot about how long we were friends for or why we stopped hanging out. What I do remember is that one time I went to his apartment and he made me stir fry and it was amazing.

That's the weird thing about food. It's such a tie to memory and people. I remember so well Jeff pottering around his tiny kitchen in Atlanta making this dish, splashing in a bit of this and a bit of that. It was the first time I'd ever seen anyone cook with rice wine vinegar. The first time I think I saw anyone cook with snow peas. It was a really delicious meal, the sauce accents the flavor of the peppers really well and the vinegar makes it bright and tangy. The peppers have just a little extra crunch, the mushrooms are sumptuous and rich, and the snow peas are bright, green and fresh.

I made this stir fry a lot more often when I was vegetarian. I still default back to it though, when I'm craving something warm and fresh and tangy. Normally I would make my own peanut sauce, but I've found that store bought is really really good in this dish and has the perfect balance. You can find it in the Asian section in the grocery store.

Vegetable Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

1 Red Bell Pepper, cut into strips

1 Green Bell Pepper, cut into strips

6 White Mushrooms, sliced

1/4 Cup of Snow Peas

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar

3 Tablespoons Peanut Sauce

Warm up the olive oil in a large frying pan or a wok if you have one. Make sure it gets nice and hot, then add the peppers. Add half the rice wine vinegar and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir around until the peppers are starting to get a little bit of color on them. You want them to stay a bit crispy. Add the snow peas and the rest of the rice wine vinegar and saute two more minutes. Add the peanut sauce and stir until warmed through.

Serve with rice and build a memory with an old friend. 

Makes 2 servings.

Bacon and Cheddar Gougeres

 

Finally, a day to play in the kitchen. It feels like forever since I've had the opportunity to just mess around and cook.

It's weird how you get into a routine with things, like writing a food blog, and then when something happens to knock you out of the routine your life feels very off balance. In my brain, I shouldn't be putting this post up since it's a Tuesday and I normally post Monday, Wednesday and Friday. But I figure the best way to get back in the swing of things is to just grab the rope, tarzan yell, and jump.

So, today I jumped into a big plate of Gougeres. I love Gougeres. They are essentially just little pastry puffs. They are made with gruyere normally which is a harder cheese, and I still feel that the classic take is best, but I wanted to play with the idea of making them with ingredients you are more likely to have on hand, like cheddar and bacon. I pretty much always have cheddar and bacon in the house. That and eggs. Without eggs, I would be lost.

So I whipped up these little beauties and I certainly like them. I had five in the first sitting, three more while taking a picture, and another three while putting them into tupperware. They are so little you can just pop them into your mouth. It's easy to lose track.

These would be great for a party, or nice to just have on hand as a snack. They don't get as much height as a normal gougere would, but they still work nicely in my opinion.

Bacon and Cheddar Gougeres

2 Slices of Bacon, cooked crispy
1/2 Cup Milk
3 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 Cup Flour
2 Eggs
1/4 Teaspoon Mustard Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
10 Grinds Black Pepper
3oz Cheddar, finely grated

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Cook your two slices of bacon until they are crispy, then mince them up after they have cooled a little.

Put the milk, butter, mustard, salt and pepper in a saucepan and heat up until the butter has melted. Do not boil. Set aside and grate the cheese finely. You'll probably want to use a Microplane Grater if you have one so the cheese will incorporate better.

Once the cheese is grated, you'll want to move fairly quickly. Take your liquid and dump in all the flour at once. Beat firmly with a spoon, it will form a heavy paste. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well, then add in the bacon and three quarters or more of the cheese. You'll want to reserve a little to top the gougeres with.

On a baking lined with either Sil-Pat or parchment, spoon out 30 rounds of the mix, just over a teaspoon each. You can pipe them out with a pastry bag if you like. Try and coax them into little peaks if you can, but don't worry if it doesn't happen. Sprinkle over the extra cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes until they are golden brown.

Eat one or two every time you walk past the plate in the kitchen. Try not to count.

Makes 30.

Tilapia Fish Cakes and Being Prepared

I really like tilapia. I think I might be one of the few people that adores it. It's a really great base fish. It's easy to cook and it takes seasoning very very well. It's also pretty inexpensive, which is another big tick in the plus column for me.

That was very British, wasn't it?

Anyways. I've been cooking in batches recently to try and replenish my freezer with things that do not require much attention. I generally go through phases where I make extras of things and put them in the freezer so that when I get busy I have quicker options. My reserve was drastically depleted over the last month, so I've been playing around with some good stock up recipes. I hate when I have nothing in the freezer. I feel unprepared for disaster. I think I need to make some quiche again, that worked exceptionally well last time.

I have a secret weapon when it comes to Tilapia. I buy Louisiana Fish Fry in a package and use that to coat a tilapia fillet, then I usually just put it straight in a non-stick skillet with no oil. It's delicious. I know I could probably mix my own fish fry seasoning, but one little package of it is less than a dollar and I use very little. I usually keep it in a jar in my pantry and just pull out what I need. Easy peasy.

So I decided to make fish cakes out of some tilapia so that I could keep them in my freezer, and I also decided to coat them with fish fry to give them a little extra something something. They tasted delicious with some fresh tomato and some Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog Chevre.

Tilapia Fish Cakes

6-8oz Uncooked Tilapia Fillets
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
2 Tablespoons Fresh Parsley or Chives, minced
1 Shallot, minced
1 Egg
2/3rd Cup Breadcrumbs
2 Tablespoons Fish Fry Seasoning
Salt and Pepper

Put the tilapia fillets in a mixing bowl and mash up with a fork. Add the tomato paste, herbs, shallot, egg and breadcrumbs. Grind in some salt and pepper. Mix well.

In a shallow bowl or on a small plate, shake out two tablespoons of fish fry seasoning. Divide the fish mixture into four pieces and form it into small patties with your hands, about one inch thick. Coat with the fish fry seasoning.

Heat up a non-stick pan and place the patties in to cook. Turn a couple of times so that they brown evenly. Cooking them will take about ten minutes total.

Eat with something fresh and acidic at three in the afternoon on your day off while sitting at the dining room table reading other peoples blogs.

1 Year Ago : Curried Carrot Soup

Tzatziki and Other Adventures

When I was ten or eleven years old, my Mum took my sister and I on holiday to Kefalonia in Greece. It was our first holiday that didn't involve sleeping in a caravan in somewhere terrifying like Wales.

I have flashes of memory from that vacation. I remember it being beautiful and I remember thinking that it smelled amazing at night time. I have a vague memory that I think might be the taste of honey. I remember the colors of the bougainvillea and I remember that I got an absolutely horrible sunburn.

I have a really weird memory. Lots of things are lost to me. My Stunt Guy clearly remembers conversations we had two years ago, but often I draw a blank. I can, however, probably recite entire episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for you, and I know pretty much everything there is to know about Anne Boleyn.

Anyway, after that family holiday to Greece, a couple of years later Mum went back to spend a week sailing with a bunch of other people. Evidently, and to me this sounds like the most amazing holiday, they spent two days learning how to sail a small boat with several other couples, then they sailed around the Greek islands in a small flotilla, anchoring up in bays in the night and swimming from one boat to another for visits. I think this was the first of my mothers amazing adventurous vacations. When she came back, she regularly started making Tzatziki. It became an easy staple in our household, frequently served with fresh sliced baguette. I love it for it's punch of garlic and it's cool refreshing bite. I'm sure my mother still thinks of Greece when she makes it. I still want to have all the adventures that she had. I think I still have time.


Tzatziki

You can use store bought Greek yoghurt here, or you can make your own strained yoghurt which is incredibly easy. Set a paper towel in a mesh sieve over a bowl. Spoon the yoghurt into the paper towel and set in the fridge for an hour or two. Lots of liquid will drip out of the yoghurt and into the bowl, leaving you with amazing rich thick strained yoghurt.

8oz Cucumber
6 Mint Leaves
2 Cloves Garlic
6 Tablespoons Greek or Strained Yoghurt

Peel your cucumber, then grate it with a box grater. Squeeze out as much of the liquid in the cucumber as you can. I've found that the easiest way to do this really is to just use your hands.
Mince the garlic cloves and mint up finely. Stir all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

Serve with pita chips or a freshly sliced baguette.

Makes about 1 Cup.

Welcome Made Just Right Members!

A while ago I mentioned that I had entered my Raw Zucchini Pasta with Peanut Sauce recipe in a competition for Made Just Right, and today I was lucky enough to be featured on their site! So welcome, Made Just Right-ers!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! You can sign up for my RSS feed using the button to the right, and if you scroll down you can also sign up for email subscription. Here are a few more Vegan recipes you might like!

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

Vegan Pumpkin Bread

Vegan Lentil and Wild Rice Salad with Tahini Dressing

Slackers Ratatouille