Sundays. I love Sundays. They are my make a big breakfast and eat it slowly. They are making and enjoying big Sunday dinners, relaxing before another busy week.
Yesterday, Sunday, I was crawling the walls. I told Marty I missed work and wanted to go into spätzle production the next day. We flip our weekend by using Mondays as Saturdays like the Monday through Friday folks have. Our TGIF is actually on Saturday nights after the farmer’s market.
Our Mondays include but are not limited to banking, paying bills, cleaning, projects, laundry, and catching up on clerical work.
Some Mondays, we are in production when we have a lot of spätzle to make. All of our chores are then squeezed in during the week.
Over the three days of our snowstorm hiatus, I counted the orders coming in and looked forward to making spätzle. Even after five years, I still love making our spätzle; it’s the 2+ hours of dishes and clean-up that isn’t my favorite.
What else did I do during the three days off? I cooked, a real shocker, right? These days I am in a total food rut, struggling to think of dishes we aren’t tired of. I want to cook springtime food this time of the year, even though it still feels like comfort food weather.
I tried a new recipe, Chicken in a Madeira Wine Sauce, along with Spätzle in Garlic and Oil, and Glazed Carrots. It was delicious! Better than I thought it would.
Of course, I didn’t follow the recipe I found but used the same ingredients with different prep and cooking methods. I will make this again, and I’ll write it done to share with you.
I made Mongolian Beef with Jasmine Rice and Crispy Tofu Triangles with Peanut Sauce. I will share the tofu and peanut sauce recipes in another post. My cooking class was surprised how much they liked this dish when we made it since some were afraid of the tofu.
Yesterday, I made my 20-minute gnocchi recipe. I added a small amount of pesto to the gnocchi for a taste of basil. I made a pomodoro sauce, which is slightly different from the usual marinara sauce.
Both marinara and pomodoro sauces contain the same ingredients yet are different: tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil, salt & sugar.
There are plenty of arguments regarding the preparation of the tomatoes and should onions be added. I hand crushed my tomatoes yesterday; I was too lazy to get out the blender. Truth be told.
Authentic pomodoro sauce uses tomatoes blended into a purée and no onions. The tomatoes are left chunky in marinara sauce, and onions are added. The other difference is the color of the sauces and their texture.
Marinara sauce is cooked quickly in under 30 minutes, leaving the tomatoes an orange-red color. The texture of the sauce is loose or runny with tomato chunks. Marinara sauce is light and bright, like a taste of summer.
Pomodoro sauce is cooked slowly, producing a deep red and thickly textured sauce. A heavy flavorful sauce like this screams cold weather to me. Here is a basic pomodoro recipe.
Now a pot of “sauce” or gravy is entirely different from both of these sauces. “Sauce” is made in large quantities using crushed tomatoes or tomato purée. Meats like sausage, meatballs, and pork are added along with garlic, onions, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and a little sugar.
“Sauce” starts thin and cooks for hours, getting thicker over time. When the sauce is done the texture is like smooth, red velvet. Yum! Just thinking about having some sexy-ass velvety sauce with tender pieces of meat makes me drool.
I mentioned I made my 20-minute gnocchi to serve with the pomodoro sauce. Potato gnocchi is made with leftover mashed potatoes or grated baked potatoes. I use my quick cheat method when I don’t have either; I use potato flakes instead. Gnocchi can also be made with ricotta cheese; we can cover that another day.
This recipe is foolproof after making it many times with the same success. I always cook one trial gnocchi to ensure it holds together and floats. It always does, but I do it anyway, then eat it. 😉 Here is my recipe:
20 Minute Gnocchi
Ingredients:
- 1 cup mashed potato flakes
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup potato stach
- 1/2 cup flour plus more for flouring surface * I use Bobs 1:1 Gluten Free Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 cups water
- 1 tsp kosher salt for water
- Olive oil to coat cooked gnocchi
Directions:
Place potato flakes in a large bowl. Stir in boiling water; add the flour, kosher salt, and egg. On a lightly floured surface, knead until smooth, forming a soft dough.
Divide dough into four portions. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into 1/2-in.-thick ropes; cut into 3/4-inch pieces. Press and roll each piece with a lightly floured fork.
In a large saucepan, add kosher salt to the water and bring to a boil. Cook gnocchi in batches for 30-60 seconds or until they float. Remove with a slotted spoon. Drain and place on a sheet pan and lightly coat with olive oil to prevent sticking.
Serve as desired or heated in a tomato sauce, sautéed with butter and topped with parmesan or pan-fried with brown butter and sage. There are as many endless possibilities as there are with regular pasta.
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