Gnocchi with Spinach, Ham, and Gorgonzola

My kids are entertained with a cartoon right now (well, the boy is at least, the baby is just wandering around playing with whatever he comes across), so I figured I might as well get a little caught up on my blog while I have some peace.

This is another recipe from the America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers magazine. I had recently cooked a whole ham and of course had a ton of ham leftover from it, so I was very excited when I saw this, especially since all I needed to make it was some spinach.

Gnocchi with Spinach, Ham, and Gorgonzola
From America's Test Kitchen 30-Minute Suppers Summer 2010 Special Issue

1 pound vacuum-packed gnocchi
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 slices deli ham, cut into 1/4-inch strips
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
3/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
1 tsp juice from 1 lemon
2 ounces baby spinach

Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add 1 tablespoon salt and gnocchi to boiling water and cook until tender and floating, about 4 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, drain gnocchi, and transfer gnocchi to paper-towel lined plate.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add gnocchi to skillet and cook until browned, about 4 minutes. Stir in ham and cook until it begins to brown, 2-4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add reserved cooking water, pine nuts, cheese, and lemon juice to skillet and stir until cheese starts to melt and sauce becomes creamy. Add spinach and stir until just wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

*****

This was so tasty and so easy!! The baby had three helpings, I couldn't believe it. I ended up using regular blue cheese instead of gorgonzola because I had some on hand already. And I could have sworn I had pine nuts in my freezer, but apparently I used them all. I don't think they would have contributed a ton to the flavor but the texture they would have added would have been a nice touch. We all really liked this, so I'll definitely make it again. In fact I may reserve some of the leftover ham for it!!

Gnocchi with Pesto, Chicken, and Mozzarella

Not really anything exciting here for dinner tonight. I'm going to cook up a chicken breast (it's huge, so I think one should be plenty) and some gnocchi, make some pesto, dice up a ball of fresh mozzarella, and mix it all together. No frills, baby!

Tomato, Basil, and Parmesan Gnocchi

I had something entirely different slated for dinner tonight, but I realized as I was awake at 2:30 AM feeding the baby that we're out of beer. That doesn't usually happen in our house, so I'm glad I thought of it with enough time left to figure out something else for dinner. I had bought a package of gnocchi at Target awhile back (who knew that Target carried gnocchi?!) and remembered reading a recipe on the back of the package that sounded good. It called for fresh basil, and I had a trip to Trader Joe's planned today (I love their price on organic basil!!), so I thought this would be a perfect fill-in dinner. I have to make some modifications because I don't have one of the main ingredients, but we'll get to that later.

Tomato, Basil, and Parmesan Gnocchi
1 package Archer Farms tri-color Gnocchi
2 Tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1-1/2 cups grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Cook gnocchi according to package directions; drain. Melt butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Add cooked gnocchi, tomatoes, and basil. Cook, stirring often, until gnocchi is lightly browned. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Makes 4 servings.

*****

I forgot to check the ingredients before we went to TJ's, and I was thinking it had marinara sauce in it, so I bought a jar of that. Oops. I have quite a few roma tomatoes on hand for HLT sandwiches (hummus, lettuce, tomato) I had planned on making this week for lunches, so I think I'll just chop those up in place of the grape tomatoes. I also thought the recipe called for mozzarella, so I bought a ball of fresh mozzarella. I think I'll dice that up as well and add it in to the mix, probably after everything else is cooked so it gets a little melty but mostly still holds together. I'm going to steam some broccoli to have on the side, make up a salad with some Romaine hearts I have, and I also bought some kalamata olive bread at TJ's today. Yum!

*****

Mmmmmm...this was so super yummy!! I had wanted it to have little chunks of cheese, but the cheese got all melty because I tossed it in when everything was still really hot. Oh well, it was still really good--gnocchi swimming in puddles of ooey-gooey-melted mozzarella. This is something I would definitely make again, although it was pretty decadent with all the cheese. I love how fast and easy gnocchi are to make.

Potato Gnocchi and Mushrooms in Gorgonzola Sauce

I had a near dinner disaster tonight. Well, not really. I had planned on having roasted chicken, but the chicken was still frozen. I thought about doing Tortilla Pie but the avocados I bought last night were still hard and need to ripen up a bit. That left me four other dinners to choose from, from what I had planned out for the week. We had a park play date this afternoon, so I figured I'd see what stuck my fancy when we got home from that.

The boy was having fun, and I was catching up with some friends I hadn't seen much of recently, so it was 5:15 by the time we were leaving the park. I decided to make what ever was going to be the fastest. Since most everything else required defrosting some form of protein, I went with this because I knew the gnocchi would cook quickly. This was one of the recipes from that vegetarian cookbook I meant to get rid of for years and am now insanely pleased that I did not. Looking through it a second time, I found even more recipes I want to make. I don't think I've ever been so excited about eating vegetarian!

Potato Gnocchi and Mushrooms in Gorgonzola Sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
12 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 pound frozen potato gnocchi
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup milk
3 ounces gorgonzola or other blue cheese, cut into small dice
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
1/4 tsp salt
Generous seasoning freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large stockpot of water to boil. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and saute until they render their juices, then reabsorb them and begin to get dry, about 10 minutes. Stir often.

Drop the gnocchi into the boiling water and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic to the mushrooms and cook 2 minutes, tossing frequently. Pour in the milk and bring to a boil. Stir in the blue cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper and toss.

Drain the gnocchi and add it to the skillet. Toss 1 minute, or just until the cheese melts. Serve immediately.

*****

I had freeze-dried gnocchi from Trader Joe's, not frozen, so I followed the package directions on that for cooking them. Let float to top and boil two minutes after that. Super easy. The hardest part of all of this was slicing the mushrooms.

I wasn't sure what the husband and boy would think of this because of the blue cheese (I used regular blue cheese because there was no gorgonzola to be had when I went to the store last night). I loved the first bite I took of it, the husband didn't look too sure of it. He said later that he did like it and would eat it again, it was just an unfamiliar texture (gnocchi) and tase (blue cheese) so it took some getting used to. The boy ate it reluctantly at first but then he ate pretty much all I had served him, except one or two gnocchi.

This is definitely something I'd make again. I'm excited to have more things to do with gnocchi because they're inexpensive and super easy to cook. I have a recipe to make my own, so maybe some day when I have a little more time (i.e. my baby isn't a newborn anymore) I'll try to make my own. Anyway, I love easy, inexpensive dinners, and it's also great to have another vegetarian dish to add into the rotation.