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.
Pansotti with Fresh Tomato Sauce
Several weeks ago, Victor made Pansotti con salsa di noci for his Monday Pasta. The recipe made quite a bit of the pasta, so into the freezer it went - until tonight.
Victor had made tomato sauce a couple of days ago from the horde of tomatoes we've harvested and I was in the mood for EyeTalian. A dinner was born.
I had about a half-pound of mushrooms and about the same amount of filet tips, so I sauteed them off in a bit of olive oil and garlic, added a couple of cups of the fresh tomato sauce, a couple of ounces of grated grana padano, and a pinch of fresh herbs. I cooked off the frozen pansotti, tossed everything together and sliced up some of yesterday's bread.
It was a treat not to really have to cook, but have a fresh-made dinner.
So to celebrate not really having to do anything, I made a Bananas Foster Bread from Cooking Light Magazine.
Pumpkin Soup
Mmmmm... Soup..... I've been dreaming about soup for weeks, now. It's what happens to me towards the end of every season - I start thinking about the foods that are coming up. Soups and stews and casseroles are on the horizon. Even more fresh-baked breads... These are some of my most favorite foods - mainly because they generally don't take recipes or cook books to create. They tend to just come together with things in the kitchen. That's not to say that recipes are out for the next few months, but soups, stews, and the like are pretty instinctive for me. Probably comes from being from a large family. But I do find them to be the easiest things to make. Seriously, they're pretty hard to screw up.
So tonight's dinner was brought to us by that big ol' pumpkin I cooked up yesterday. I have pumpkin for days in the 'fridge. I'll probably freeze some of it tomorrow - but I do have a couple of ideas to ponder first...
The soup tonight was based upon a recipe we created at work many moons ago.
Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 pork tenderloin, cubed
- 3 cups pumpkin puree
- 2 cups chunk pumpkin, cooked
- 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp chipotle powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- salt and pepper, to taste
- sour cream for topping
Saute onion until translucent. Add cubed pork tenderloin and lightly brown. Add spices and cook about a minute.
Add pumpkin puree, cream, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer.
Add black beans and cubed pumpkin and heat through.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream.
It's rich, thick, and creamy, without being heavy. It's also really simple and lends itself to many different variations. You can add curry powder instead of the chipotle, coconut milk instead of the cream.
Use chicken or beef - or neither and make it vegetarian with the addition of vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. Throw in some other vegetables.
It's the beauty of the season - anything goes!