Ricotta Gnocchi with Red Pepper Sauce

I know, I know- food is not my domain on this here blog. I leave that to the hubs, and for good reason. I love food-don't get me wrong. I just don't love making food (exception: desserts). I opt for the least amount of time, ingredients, dishes, etc., while Matt LOVES experimenting with food. He loves reading about it, eating it, making it, shopping for it... he loves it all, which is why he was the cook for most of our marriage thus far.

With our move he has significantly less time at home now, and I have significantly more, so it just makes sense now for me to do the cooking (bummer, I know.) I haven't really gotten in to it. I usually do some small variation on the same few meals each week. So when I found this recipe on Prudent Baby, and read about how easy it was, I knew my husband would be totally impressed. He's never made gnocchi from scratch, so this was going to make me look like the wife of the year.

image from here

Looks good, right? Well, like her post says, it is super easy! I have a feeling Gnocchi might make it in to the weekly rotation! The sauce, as they say on Top Chef was "a little one-note" but surprisingly better the next day. Next time, I'll probably try it with a different sauce, but seriously, this was easy and delicious!

What about you guys- what are your go-to easy recipes? Or have you found any new simple ones to try?

Gnocchi with Summer Vegetables

As summer draws near, I have been thinking about my favorite go-to-fancy-but-super-easy-so-it-impresses-a-lot-of-people-recipe: Gnocchi with summer vegetables. There is something about Gnocchi that makes people ooo and aaahh. It seems so exotic and Italian. I remember the first time I had this lovely potato dumpling. I was in Frankfurt Germany of all places and had just gone to the temple for the first time. We stopped at a little Italian joint afterwards and I wanted to try it, just because of the name. I had no clue what a gnocchi was, but it sounded cool. It was chewy and starchy and wonderful. It was love at first bite.

When I think of Gnocchi I think of really heavy stick to your ribs kind of food. Not with this recipe. It was surprisingly lighter than I would have thought. As much as I always want to make gnocchi by hand, it’s one of those things I have never gotten around to. Maybe now that I have my new handy dandy potato ricer I will give it a go. I normally buy the pre-packaged kind. You can find it in the pasta aisle or you can find the frozen stuff in the frozen aisle. Ether one will do. Once everything is cut and ready to go this meal comes together very quickly. It is simple, yet quick, yet fancy and that is why I like it. I substitute dry basil when I don’t have fresh on hand and it turns out ok, but it’s always better with the fresh stuff. It’s also great with grilled chicken. Some say they want to try the recipes I post, but they seem too hard or take too much time. Well this one’s for you.

Gnocchi with Summer Vegetables

from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 2 zucchini or summer squash, or one of each (about 2 pounds total), quartered and sliced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• Coarse salt and ground pepper

• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

• 1 package (15 to 16 ounces) frozen gnocchi

• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

• 2 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano cheese

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add squash and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until juicy, about 2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook gnocchi according to package instructions. Reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid, drain gnocchi and transfer to skillet. Toss gnocchi, adding enough cooking liquid to create a sauce. Remove from heat and stir in basil, cheese, butter, and lemon juice.