Cheese Gnocchi
Sunday Dinner.
A tradition in many cultures. Lots of family, lots of food, lots of fun. We had two out of three, today. Lots of food, lots of fun - but just a little family. Victor's mom, brother and sister-in-law.
We decided we'd do the Monday Pasta today. Sunday Dinner... Italians... It seemed the right thing to do.
Tonight's dish was Ricotta Gnocchi. Lighter than their potato cousins, they're also more flavorful. They work equally well with a red sauce, a cream sauce, or a simple butter sauce.
Ricotta Gnocchi
- 1 lb ricotta cheese
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed
- Stir together the ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan Cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a large bowl until evenly combined. Mix in 1 cup of flour. Add additional flour if needed to form a soft dough.
- Divide the dough into 3 or 4 pieces, and roll into 1/2-inch-thick ropes on a floured surface. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces, and place on a lightly floured baking sheet. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- While sauce is simmering, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Boil the gnocchi until they float to the surface, 1 to 2 minutes, then drain.
- Place gnocchi into a serving bowl, and spoon sauce over top.
They are actually pretty easy to make. I've made them many times in the past rolling the little gnocchi off the tines of a fork. The gnocchi board really makes it easier, although the fork tines are not difficult by any means.
You definitely want a soft dough to begin with. Work it just enough to get everything mixed together, and although the recipe doesn't call for it, wrapping it and letting it rest for about 20 minutes or so will help bring it together and allow the flour to absorb the liquids.
And then it just becomes the rolling, cutting, and forming process.
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The recipe makes a goodly amount. We got two sheet pans - one went into the freezer!
I made another loaf of bread, and Marie brought over some great blondie-brownies. And we had some of the Bananas Foster Bread from last night.
We ate really well.
A good time was had by all, the Giants beat the Padres, and life is good!
Bananas Foster Bread
I was looking at some pretty ripe bananas yesterday. Really ripe; as in use them right now or throw them away really ripe.
I decided to use them.
Fortunately, the latest issue of Cooking Light magazine was sitting here. The cover picture was - banana bread.
Banana bread is one of those things I just tend to throw together. I've made it enough times over the years that I have a recipe memorized. But... I'm always willing to look at ideas.
There was a recipe for a Bananas Foster Bread that looked promising. Cook the bananas with some butter, brown sugar and brandy before mixing everything together? Sounds like a plan.
I tweaked the ingredients a bit (what a shock!) by adding wheat bran in place of ground flax seed and lots more spices. We ended up with a really good dessert - and possible breakfast!
Bananas Foster Bread
- 2 cups mashed ripe banana
- 1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
- 5 tbsp butter, melted
- 3 tbsp brandy or dark rum
- 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup wheat bran
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- pinch nutmeg
- Cooking spray
Glaze:
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 tbsp brandy or dark rum
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Combine banana, 1/2 cup brown sugar, butter, and brandy in a nonstick skillet. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat; cool. Place banana mixture in a large bowl. Add yogurt, remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar, and eggs. Beat with a mixer at medium speed.
3. Combine flour, wheat bran, soda, salt, cinnamon allspice, ginger, and nutmeg. Add flour mixture to banana mixture; beat just until blended. Pour batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan; place on wire rack.
4. Combine melted butter, brandy, and powdered sugar; stir until well blended. Drizzle over the warm bread.
It may be the first time I haven't used walnuts or pecans in my banana bread. It worked quite well without them, but would work equally well with. Add 'em if ya have 'em.
And the glaze really makes it special. That little amount of butter with the brandy made for the perfect finish.