Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
Victor came into the office this morning saying he wanted to make some sun-dried tomato pasta. I immediately perked up and said Today?!? He smiled, said yes, and that it would be my job to create a sauce for it.
Tag team in the kitchen - my favorite sport!
Right after lunch, he got to work. He has pasta making down to a science. I love how he bought me a pasta roller years ago for Christmas - and I've never used it. In the ensuing years, I've bought all of the various pasta paraphernalia for him. I'm no fool. He makes great pasta and I'm going to make sure he has all of the things he needs to continue doing so!
He made a pretty good-sized batch so we could have pasta tonight and ravioli some other time. He's thinking a shrimp filling, but nothing is final around here until it's actually made. This basic pasta dough can be cut into any number of shapes or sizes. Have fun with it!
Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
- 1/4 (generous) cup finely minced sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- Fine sea salt
- 2 cups flour
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
On a clean work surface, mound 2 cups flour and form a well in the center.
Add 2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, and sun-dried tomatoes into the well. Using a fork (or your fingers) gently break up yolk and slowly incorporate flour . Continue until the liquid is absorbed, then knead for 10 minutes.
Wrap dough tightly in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes
After the dough has rested:
Take the dough and divide into 3 equal pieces (cover the other two and set aside)
Set the rollers of pasta machine at the widest setting then feed pasta through rollers 3 or 4 times folding and turning pasta until it is smooth and the width of the machine.
Roll dough through the machine, decreasing the setting one notch at a time (do not fold or turn the dough this time) until pasta sheet is a scant 1/16 inch thick.
Cut sheet in half, feed through cutter on machine or cut with knife to desired width. Lightly dust with flour.
Cook in lightly boiling water for about three minutes. Drain and serve with your favorite sauce.
I didn't want a heavy red sauce on the pasta, so i came up with a ground pork and mushroom sauce that worked really well.
Mushroom and Pork Sauce
- 8 oz ground pork
- 14 oz assorted mushrooms, chopped
- 1 small fennel bulb, finely chopped
- 1 small red onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth
- pinch thyme
- pinch salt
- pinch pepper
- 1 tbsp cornstarch to thicken
Saute onion and fennel until wilted. Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms begin to brown. Add pork and cook until no longer pink.
Add pinch thyme and a bit of S&P.
Add 1 cup white wine and cook down by half. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Check for seasonings and add more thyme, salt, and/or pepper, if needed.
Mix cornstarch with cold water and slowly add to sauce to thicken to desired consistency. You may not need all of it.
Add your favorite cooked pasta, mix, and serve.
The sauce was made with stuff in the house. Chopped artichoke hearts would work, too.
A successful dinner.
The End of Week Thirty-Three
Ah... another week and more weight loss. It appears that by telling myself I didn't care if I lost any weight caused me to lose 2 1/2 pounds. I'm hoping that if I tell myself to gain a couple that I'll lose even more. At this point I don't care how irrational things sound - it's whatever it takes.
Down a few pounds and I have a nice, sore bruise on my left calf. I got it from trying to swing my legs up and over some damned bars twenty-five times while hanging from my forearms. That was Wednesday and it's still sore. Flexibility has never been my strong point to begin with and there are certain movements that just ain't gonna happen - but I finally did manage it a few times. The other twenty-two resulted in an altogether new type of pain as I banged the end of it instead of swinging over it. I swear the Marquis de Sade thinks up these damned things.
On a positive note, though, I actually did do it. I've tried at least once a week since first trying it months ago - never getting my legs up high enough. If the gymnasium gods are willing, the next time I'll do it a few more times and won't be quite as bruised. Now that I know the pain involved, there's a lot of incentive to get it done right.
Victor banged his knee on Monday and was favoring it a bit during some of the exercises, but he worked through it, as well. Ya just keep doing what ya have to do.
This is why we have a personal trainer. Not to cause pain, but to push us to do things we wouldn't otherwise do. I don't see myself going back repeatedly to try and do something on my own. I just don't. I need him to keep pushing me when I don't want to do it. Which is all of the time. I really don't want to do it - even though I see the results, feel the results, and know it's the best thing I've done for myself in years. Left to my own devices, I'd bake cookies.
And he does keep pushing. And I'm not baking cookies. And we're both losing weight. And feeling better - albeit sore in places...
I think the smartest thing we did was to commit for a year. It would actually be pretty easy to tell ourselves we've more or less achieved our goals so we could slow down and relax a bit. Forty-five pounds is a lot of weight to lose. However, it has become more than weight loss - it's about actual health and well-being. And we're committed to seeing it through - and feeling better, stronger, and just being healthier.
Tonight, it's pasta night at our house. Homemade spinach pasta. As I have mentioned many times, nothing is off limits around here. Victor made a pretty big batch last week and after making cannelloni and ravioli, the rest went into the freezer. It came out this morning and he turned it into linguine.
The joys of being married to an Italian...
He made a fairly basic scampi-style sauce. He started by cooking the shrimp shells in olive oil, garlic, and white wine. He cooked it all down, and then strained it. From there, he quickly sauteed the shrimp and then added the wine sauce, lemon zest, lemon juice, parsley, crushed red pepper, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
He quickly cooked the pasta and then mixed it unto the sauce with a bit of butter and freshly grated parmesan. He had saved a bit of pasta water just in case it needed some - but it was perfect as-is.
Very simple but just loaded with flavor. I completely cleaned my plate - and was borderline close to licking it clean, as well. It really was good.
Nineteen weeks left before we're on our own.
We can do it.
Homemade Ravioli
Yesterday's spinach pasta made cannelloni and cheese ravioli. We had the ravioli, tonight!
My stomach is smiling!
The filling was ricotta cheese, shredded quattro formaggio, parmesan, and an egg to bind. The sauce was hot Italian sausage, mixed olives from the grocery store olive bar, mushrooms, onions, red wine, a bit of Victor's pasta sauce, and the leftover filling from last night's cannelloni. It was a sauce that will never be replicated, but waste not, want not.
I vacillate between making things the same and never in a million years being able to replicate something. There are definitely times when I really do wish I could make something, again - and on the other hand, there are just too many good things out there to try, so why worry about it?!?
The ravioli were light and delicate with a ton of flavor. The sauce was heavier than what I would normally use with a ravioli, but it worked. It had lots of different flavors and textures - and it complimented the light ravioli really well.
All-in-all, a very successful dinner!
The End of Week Thirty-Two
Well... it appears that my body has found its optimum weight - 190 lbs. That, of course, is not my personal optimum weight, so I need to change things up, a bit. Victor dropped another pound, so he's doing okay - after going through this a few weeks ago.
It's funny how the body reacts to things... how it gets comfortable at different weights... I was at 165 for the better part of 20 years, and after quitting smoking the first time, hit 200. After quitting smoking the second - and final time - I made it up to 230 and stayed there for the longest time before inching my way up to 240.
I'm 50 pounds lighter than my all-time high with another 20 to go to meet my optimal weight. These are probably going to be the difficult twenty to lose.
In the grand scheme of things, it all centers around my love of food. People are divided into two groups - eat to live and live to eat. I live to eat! I can’t seem to get enough of new foods and flavors, of new ideas and old standards. I just need to keep working on eating less of everything. Of cooking less. Of not thinking I have to clean my plate.
I'll get there. And I'll get there because we're not dieting - we're eating what we want - within reason - but we're not denying ourselves, not making some foods bad and some foods good. We're being realistic. We're in it for the long run.
And the long run around here is going to include pasta - especially homemade pasta.
I saw a shrimp and lentil cannelloni recipe on La Cucina Italiana that looked interesting. Looked interesting, because the site is in Italian. My knowledge of the Italian language is pretty sparse, although I'm getting better in the culinary end of things.
One of the benefits of having cooked for so many years is learning culinary terms of other languages. Of course, it can also make one a bit cocky. I have done more than my share of French cooking in my time, and the first time we went to France I was pretty confident I could order any meal. Needless to say, when presented with an actual French menu, my American Kitchen French was no match for the real thing. Live and learn.
Nowadays, I rely on Bing or Google to translate the pages.
What I see when I first get there...
Cannelloni con gamberi e lenticchie
INGREDIENTI
500 g latte
450 g gamberi rossi
300 g lenticchie piccole
300 g pomodori pelati
50 g misto aromatico (sedano, carote, cipolla tritati)
20 g scalogno
20 g burro
20 g farina
8 cannelloni secchi
aglio
peperoncino
timo
noce moscata
brodo vegetale
Cognac
vino bianco
limone
olio extravergine d' oliva
sale fino e grossoDurata: 2 h 20 minLivello: MedioDosi: 4 persone
Per la ricetta dei cannelloni con gamberi e lenticchie, soffriggete il misto aromatico in 2 cucchiai di olio con un pizzico di sale grosso e, dopo 2’, unite le lenticchie, una spruzzata di vino bianco e 4 mestoli di brodo. Cuocete le lenticchie per 1 ora, bagnandole con il brodo in modo che non si asciughino. Sgusciate i gamberi, eliminando il budellino nero e il carapace e tenendo da parte le teste. Mondate lo scalogno, affettatelo a rondelle e tenetene da parte un po’ da tritare.
Schiacciate uno spicchio di aglio con la buccia e rosolatelo in una padella con 2 cucchiai di olio, lo scalogno a rondelle e un pizzico di peperoncino per 1’; unite le teste dei gamberi schiacciandole bene, sfumate con 3 cucchiai di Cognac e, quando è evaporato, aggiungete i pomodori pelati, cuocete per 8’, quindi bagnate con un mestolo di brodo e proseguite la cottura per 15’. Filtrate il sugo al setaccio, quindi portatelo a bollore e fatelo restringere per 15’, regolandolo eventualmente di sale.
Frullate 200 g di lenticchie con 120 g di brodo, quindi passate al setaccio la crema per eliminare le bucce. Tenete da parte 4 gamberi interi e tagliate gli altri a pezzi; tritate lo scalogno rimasto e unitelo alle lenticchie intere e alla crema di lenticchie, aggiungete i gamberi a pezzi, qualche foglia di timo e amalgamate tutto. Dividete a metà i 4 gamberi tenuti da parte e marinateli con olio, il succo di mezzo limone, un pizzico di sale e qualche foglia di timo. Preparate la besciamella facendo sciogliere il burro in un pentolino, incorporate la farina, lontano dalla fiamma, quindi il latte, un pizzico di sale e una grattugiata di noce moscata, facendo addensare per 5’.
Cuocete i cannelloni in acqua bollente salata per 3’ e raffreddateli in acqua ghiacciata. Raccogliete la crema di lenticchie e gamberi in una tasca da pasticciere e riempite i cannelloni. Mettete in una pirofila uno strato di besciamella, adagiatevi i cannelloni ripieni, ricopriteli con altra besciamella, aggiungete un filo di olio e infornateli a 180 °C per 15’. Guarnite i cannelloni con il sugo, i gamberi marinati e, a piacere, con qualche lenticchia.
And then, what I get when translated:
Cannelloni with shrimps and lentils
INGREDIENTS
500 g milk
450 g red Shrimp
300 g small lentils
300 g peeled tomatoes
50 g mixed aromatic (celery, carrots, chopped onion)
20 g shallots
20 g butter
20 g flour
8 Dried Cannelloni
Garlic
Chili
Thyme
Nutmeg
Vegetable broth
Cognac
White wine
Lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt Fine and largeDuration: 2 h 20 minlevel: Mediumdoses: 4 People
For the recipe of cannelloni with shrimps and lentils, saute the aromatic mixture in 2 spoonfuls of oil with a pinch of coarse salt and, after 2 ', add the lentils, a splash of white wine and 4 ladles of broth. Cook the lentils for 1 hour, wetting them with the broth so that they do not dry. Shelled the prawns, eliminating the black devein and the carapace and holding the heads aside. Wash the shallots, slice into slices and keep a bit of chopping.
Crush a clove of garlic with the peel and brown in a pan with 2 tablespoons of oil, the shallots with washers and a pinch of chili for 1 '; Add the shrimp heads and mash them well, blend them with 3 tablespoons of Cognac and, when it is evaporated, mix the peeled tomatoes, cook for 8 ', then douse with a ladle of broth and continue cooking for 15 '. Filter the sauce through the sieve, then take it to a boil and make it shrink by 15 ', adjusting it eventually to salt.
Blend 200 g of lentils with 120 g of broth, then sieve the cream to remove the skins. Keep aside 4 whole prawns and cut the others to pieces; Chop the remaining shallots and add to the whole lentils and lentil cream, adding the prawns to pieces, a few leaves of thyme and mix everything. Divide in half the 4 prawns kept aside and marinateli with oil, the juice of half a lemon, a pinch of salt and a few leaves of thyme. Prepare the béchamel by dissolving the butter in a saucepan, incorporate the flour, away from the flame, then the milk, a pinch of salt and grated nutmeg, thickch for 5 '.
Cook the cannelloni in boiling salted water for 3 ' and cool them in iced water. Collect the cream of lentil and shrimp in a pastry bag and fill the cannelloni. Put a layer of béchamel in a baking dish, lay the stuffed cannelloni, cover them with other béchamel, add a little oil and inform them at 180 ° C for 15 '. Garnish the cannelloni with the sauce, the marinated prawns and, to taste, with some lentil.
It's a lot of fun figuring out what one is supposed to do. Most times, I rely on the picture and the base ingredients and then just make something up - as I did tonight.
When I told Victor of my plans, his first response was Do you want me to make the cannelloni pasta? I did answer in the affirmative. We tossed spinach and squid ink pasta back and forth and spinach won - because he then made ravioli that we're having tomorrow night.
Spinach Pasta
- 4oz spinach
- Fine sea salt
- 1 cup flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
Trim stems from spinach, discard stems. Rinse leaves in cold water, do not dry.
In a medium saucepan with a pinch of salt, cook spinach over medium heat covered, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
Drain spinach and let cool, then gently but thoroughly squeeze out excess liquid and very finely chop.
On a clean work surface, mound 1 cup flour and form a well in the center.
Add 1 egg, 1 egg yolk and spinach into the well. Using a fork (or your fingers) gently break up yolk and slowly incorporate flour . Continue until the liquid is absorbed, then knead for 10 minutes.
Wrap dough tightly in plastic and let rest for 30 minutes
After the dough has rested:
Take the spinach dough and divide into 3 equal pieces (cover the other two and set aside)
Set the rollers of pasta machine at the widest setting then feed pasta through rollers 3 or 4 times folding and turning pasta until it is smooth and the width of the machine.
Roll dough through the machine, decreasing the setting one notch at a time (do not fold or turn the dough this time) until pasta sheet is a scant 1/16 inch thick.
Cut sheet into 6" lengths, lightly dust both sides with flour. Layer sheets between floured pieces of parchment or wax paper.
Using the recipe as a guide, I made a filling of cooked lentils, tomatoes, onion, carrot, celery, fennel, garlic, brandy, and shrimp. I pureed most of the lentil filling and then stirred it back into the rest and added the chopped shrimp.
I then made the cannelloni.
Four fit perfectly in the 8" casserole.
Instead of the standard béchamel, I made a sauce of butter, flour, white wine, and clam juice.
Very simple - and very tasty.
It was covered and went into a 350°F oven for about 35 minutes.
It came out ooey, gooey, and really good!
Silky smooth pasta, rich and flavorful sauce and filling. The flavors all complimented each other really well. Every bite was fun.
We're losing weight, slowly but surely, and eating well at the same time. We're living life and enjoying it - without stressing over good foods and bad foods, ridiculous diets, and unachievable goals.
And, in the grand scheme of things, that's what's important to us.
Chicken Parmesan Florentine
When Susan came over yesterday, besides those two delicious cookies, she also brought fresh pasta sauce. The provenance escapes me right now, but I believe it comes from a restaurant in New Mexico. One of the many fun things about having friends who love different foods is being able to share those esoteric foods and ideas. They don't look at you like you're weird when you have otherwise unheard of ingredients in your cupboard. We're planning a Fante's / Italian Market trek for the early Spring to show her the local fauna and flora. It will be the perfect time to get out and about - and I already know we need things...
The pasta sauce was really good - tomatoey and peppery - with a really nice balance of flavor. Sadly, I don't have a recipe for it - but suffice to say it was good.
I used it to make a simple chicken parmesan - breaded chicken cutlets, sauce and cheese - set upon spinach sautéed with onions and garlic. On the side was a small portion of Victor's homemade gnocchi.
A quick and easy meal made possible by a friend.
Life is good.
Gnocchi
I casually mentioned to Victor, this morning, that it would be great if he made butternut squash gnocchi for dinner tonight. I had bought a rather large butternut squash and used half of it for dinner on Thursday and had put the rest in the 'fridge. He casually mentioned back that he had already used the leftover squash in the soup we were having for lunch.
But, he said, he's be happy to make gnocchi. Works for me!
He made a ricotta gnocchi - flour, ricotta, pecorino cheese, egg, salt, and pepper - and a sauce of tomatoes we canned last summer and hot Italian sausage. One of those meals that is simple, yet screams flavor from the rooftops. The sauce had just enough heat to be interesting, and the gnocchi were light as a feather. Melt-in-your-mouth pillows of flavor.
He also mad up a little antipasti of roasted hot and sweet peppers, olives, and cheese - they paired nicely with the pasta.
A couple of slices of homemade bread I had pulled from the freezer, and dinner was served - an exquisite dinner, I might add.
We really do eat well around here. In fact, he asked me earlier today if I wanted to go out for dinner on Valentine's Day or have him cook. That was like the biggest DUH in the world - have him cook, of course!!!
He's going to do a spaghetti with caramelized onions. I'm going to make a loaf of crusty bread.
Did I mention we eat well around here?!?
Gnocchi and Eggplant
Victor was rummaging through the freezer yesterday and came upon a packet of breaded and fried eggplant he had cooked up in August. The cutlets were from eggplants in our garden - at a time when looking at eggplant was starting to get a bit rough. Even with a bad growing season, we had a lot of eggplant.
Fast-forward a few months and that eggplant is looking mighty fine - and tasting even better!
It's rather interesting how one can tire of a food after a while, and then, a short time later, relish in it! And I most definite relished in it, tonight!
The eggplant was perfection! Fork-tender mouthfuls of ricotta, oregano, and homemade sauce. And then there was the gnocchi! Light as a feather.
The basic for the gnocchi is a baked potato that has been riced, flour, an egg, a pinch of salt, and a bit of grated parmesan cheese. He doesn’t have exact measurements because every potato is slightly different. You mix the egg, potato, and a handful of flour together and then add the cheese and slowly add flour until the dough feels right. Vague, I know, but every batch is just a bit different. When you’ve made it a few times, you learn the feel - and it will be perfect for you, as well!
Because the eggplant was already fried, all Victor needed to do was make a ricotta filling - ricotta, quattro formaggio, garlic powder, parmesan, salt, and pepper. He layered it between two cutlets, topped it with sauce, and then baked, covered, for about 35 minutes.
It really was the perfect meal.
Victor made enough gnocchi for two meals - the rest went into the freezer and I'll vacuum-pack them later when they're solid. The Mucca Rigagnocchi Gnocchi Rolling Machine from Fante’s in South Philly really makes the gnocchi-making a breeze. While it was never actually difficult to use the rolling board or the times of a fork, the roller really makes every one perfect.
There's one more package of gnocchi in the freezer. We'll see how long it takes us to break into it!
Homemade Pasta
Yesterday, after dinner, Victor noted we had a goodly amount of sauce left from the cioppino, but very little seafood - definitely not enough for another meal. His solution was to make sure there were no shells left - and then he took an immersion blender to it and made a tomato seafood sauce. It looked to be the perfect sauce for a pasta dish - and a really good base for a soup.
First thing this morning, Victor said he had dinner covered, tonight - he had a pasta plan. I definitely wasn't going to argue with him - Mrs Dineen did not raise a fool!
He had a bit of homemade pasta dough in the freezer, and with a sauce that only needed tweaking, he had a stupendous dinner on the table with relatively little effort - he has pasta rolling and cutting down to a science.
Fresh Pasta
- 1 cup tipo ’00’ flour
- 1/3 cup semolina flour
- 2 eggs
- pinch salt
- 1 tbsp water – maybe
Mix flour, salt, and eggs until fully combined. Knead on a floured board until smooth, adding a drop or two of additional water, if needed.
Let the dough rest for 30 minutes, and then roll out using pasta machine. You can roll this with a rolling pin, but a pasta roller is so much easier!
Lightly dust and then fold the pasta strips.
And then cut to desired width.
Unfold and place on a floured sheet pan.
Cook in lightly boiling salted water for about 3 minutes. Then add to sauce and cook an additional 2 minutes.
He cooked up some roasted red pepper sausage and more garlic and added it to the sauce for a bit more pizzazz, and cut the pasta into a thin fettuccine.
Perfection.
I think I'm going to take the rest of the sauce and make some soup, tomorrow. We'll never replicate any of this but it doesn't matter - we're eating well and waste not, want not!
Sweet Potato Gnocchi
The fun thing about decorating at our house is even after we're all done, we still find things to decorate. We'll be adding a bit here or a bit there for another few days - and probably more if we end up buying more fun things in Niagara Falls! (You know we will!) I just added big red balls to our palm tree in the kitchen. Blanche sees me coming and starts running - she thinks she will be next!
We've been slowly purging stuff that has fallen apart or is just not usable, anymore, and I shake my head in wonder because if we barely have room for what we have, how in the hell did we fit all that other stuff in here?
Still, most everything has been done - and that means more time to cook! Victor started it off with Sweet Potato Gnocchi!
Victor’s sweet potato gnocchi is an eyeball recipe.
A baked sweet potato that has been riced, an egg, salt & pepper, and flour. The flour is the wild card. You mix the sweet potato and egg together with a bit of S&P, and then start adding small amounts of flour – just enough to hold it all together and have a smooth dough. Not a lot.
Form pieces into a rope, cut them into individual pieces, and roll them with a Mucca Rigagnocchi Gnocchi Rolling Machine from Fante’s in South Philly, form them off the tines of a fork or with a gnocchi board – $4.99, also at Fante’s. If you're going to do this more than once a year, buy a Mucca - or get someone to buy you one for Christmas! They're fun and really easy to use!
Make it. You'll be glad you did.
Homemade Gnocchi
I have been looking at the gnocchi roller for months. It's a Mucca Rigagnocchi Gnocchi Rolling Machine from Fante's in South Philly. Fante's has always been a pilgrimage site for me. I love the place and can get lost in there - and spend lots of dollars even at their really reasonable prices. The place is fun. I finally decided that it was our legal wedding anniversary so I bought it as a gift for Victor. So he could make me dinner. I'm thoughtful like that!
Mucca means cow in Italian. How or why this thing is shaped like and named after a cow is beyond me - but it rolls an excellent gnocchi!
Of course, you can roll a perfect looking gnocchi - the art is making the dough. Victor is an artist!
The basic is a baked potato that has been riced, flour, an egg, a pinch of salt, and a bit of grated parmesan cheese. He doesn't have exact measurements because every potato is different. You mix the egg, potato, and a handful of flour together and then add the cheese and slowly add flour until the dough feels right. Vague, I know, but every batch is just a bit different. When you've made it a few times, you learn the feel.
I used the last eggplant from the garden for the sauce - 1 eggplant, cubed and fried with onions and garlic, red wine, salt, pepper, hot sauce, diced tomatoes, oregano... and sun-dried tomato sausage I grilled and then sliced into the sauce.
The gnocchi were like little pillows - soft and delicate - the sauce was really rich and flavorful. I made enough sauce for dinner and a big batch to freeze for another day.
Maybe with the Candele Pasta...
Sweet Potato Gnocchi
A few weeks ago, Victor made sweet potato gnocchi. We had no plans for it other than freezing for use at another date and time.
Today was that day and time.
There is something about homemade pasta that really can't be adequately described. It's over-the-top good - and infinitely better than the fresh pasta you can buy at the grocery store. It just works on every level.
Pasta is relatively easy to make. It takes a bit of practice to get the feel of the dough and the final shapes you want, but even weird looking pasta tastes excellent! You don't need special tools or equipment, although a pasta roller - one of the best ones you can get is only $79.99 at Fante's - is really the only way to fly if you're going to make pasta on a regular basis. And a simple gnocchi board is easier than a fork - although we made gnocchi and rolled it off a fork for years with no problems.
Victor's sweet potato gnocchi is an eyeball recipe.
A baked sweet potato that has been riced, an egg, salt & pepper, and flour. The flour is the wild card. You mix the sweet potato and egg together with a bit of S&P, and then start adding small amounts of flour - just enough to hold it all together and have a smooth dough. Not a lot.
Form pieces into a rope, cut them into individual pieces, and form them off the tines of a fork or with a gnocchi board - $4.99, also at Fante's.
They're light and delicate - not the belly bombs you buy packaged at the store. These are good.
The sauce tonight was a rework of the butternut squash soup Victor made on Friday. I cut up two links of andouille sausage - cleaning out that freezer - and browned it a bit in a saucepan. I added a chopped zucchini and then about a half-cup of white wine. When it cooked down a bit, I added the soup. It was nice and thick, so the wine made it just the perfect consistency.
I cooked the gnocchi, mixed it with the sauce, and dinner was served.
Put an Egg On It
Last night's pasta with an egg on top! How could life be better - or easier?!? We're both feeling a bit beat up after our gym experiences this week, so an easy dinner was definitely in the cards. Our trainer has upped the ante, so to speak.
It truly amazes me that things that look as if they should be pretty easy are actually difficult as hell when you have to keep doing them over-and-over-and-over again. But... that's why we're paying him the big bucks - to eventually make things easier in the long run.
Not complaining. Really. I am feeling better.
That's a good thing!