Gluten-Free Sweet Potato Gnocchi

I invited myself over to someone else's house for dinner the other day. I offered to make the dinner, so hopefully I didn't totally put the hostess out. But I'm still aware that I committed a slight indiscretion, in asking to take over someone's kitchen, shuffle their pots and pans around, and then spend ten minutes photographing the food before we could eat.

But I like to think that inviting oneself over is okay if you're bringing gnocchi. Having received this gluten-free gnocchi recipe from a trusted coworker (her own food blog, In Fine Fettle, is forthcoming), I had an inkling it would be delicious. And so it was: warm pillows of sweet potato, crust crisped by olive oil, and hit with a double dose of basil—some in the gnocchi itself, some in the pesto dolloped on top. The dish is pretty, soul-warming, and, I think, welcome regardless of who invited whom to the table.

Spinach-Ricotta Stuffed Shells

I'm pleased to have found another way of packaging the winningest combination of spinach and ricotta. You'll frequently find the two hand in hand, and for good reason. The silky, bright green veggie, gently sautéed in garlic and folded into velvety ricotta, is worthy of consumption spoonful by spoonful. Generally I do take the extra step to create some sort of dish, however. That way there's some sort of structure to provide an occasion for eating the filling. Calzone is my go-to vessel, but toasted phyllo cups have also found themselves shouldering a ladle of the mixture. I'm even imagining splotches of ricotta tossed onto a spinach-dredged pizza crust—perhaps that'll show up on the blog in a little while. For now, these shells put the flavors on my plate, neatly bundled and cloaked in tomato sauce.

Which leads to one of the reasons I so like this recipe. It's a no-nonsense, hearty, oven dish, not unlike lasagna in terms of ingredients. But by using shells instead of pasta sheets, one gets a nifty, well portioned bite. Serving is a cinch, eating more fork-friendly. This version is particularly low-maintenance, as it calls for jarred marinara sauce. Homemade tomato sauce (that is, a sauce of well-developed flavors and substantial texture) remains on my as-yet-a-mystery list. But if you can substitute homemade (or a cream sauce, if you like), please do.

Spinach-Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

1 TBSP olive oil

1/2 lb. spinach, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1/2 lb. ricotta

1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

salt and pepper

1 15. oz jar marinara sauce

14 large pasta shells

parmesan, if desired.

Directions:

--Heat olive oil in a medium pan. Add spinach and garlic and cook until spinach is fully wilted, five minutes or so. Let cool.

--Mix spinach mixture together with ricotta and cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

--Heat oven to 500 degrees. Pour 1 cup of the sauce into a 8x8x8 or 9x9x9-inch baking pan, spreading evenly across the bottom.

--Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and let cool just until you can handle the shells without burning your fingers. Fill each shell with 1/3 cup filling and nestle in the pan next to each other.  Pour the rest of the sauce on top of and around the shells. If desired, sprinkle with parmesan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until sauce is bubbling.

Spaghetti with White Wine-Lemon Sauce

I like to think I've finally arrived at the stage where I can divide wine into definable categories of good and ill-tasting. No doubt I'm still in the exploration stage, but I am developing a sense for which varieties of grape I like—which was why it was to my unfortunate surprise when I opened a bottle of viognier and found it essentially undrinkable. I attribute this primarily to a decision to go for economy over quality; I'd bought an overly affordable bottle, reckoning it'd go down well enough. It did not. A few sips in, it became clear that this wine ought not to be imbibed by any decent person, leaving me with a sizable amount of unpleasant, but otherwise perfectly sound wine. 

I couldn't get myself to pour it down the drain, of course, so I decided to repurpose the viognier. There exists a wine cake recipe which I adore, but being well stocked with dessert at the moment, I thought I'd incorporate the wine into dinner. The solution was provided by this lemony butter and white wine sauce, which is quite tart and quite delightful. It also comes together alarmingly fast. Throw some pantry ingredients in a pot, keep an eye on it for a few minutes, and you've got a velvety, light, springy sauce. I modified the original recipe by adding some greens and can imagine mushrooms or roasted peppers also pairing well.

Adapted from Spoon University's White Wine Lemon Butter Pasta Sauce

Spaghetti with White Wine-Lemon Sauce

Ingredients:
3 TBSP butter, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP chopped rosemary
1 1/2 TBSP flour
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 lb. frozen spinach, thawed (or about 3 large handfuls fresh spinach)
juice and zest from one lemon
1/2 lb. spaghetti, cooked per directions

Directions:
--Melt 2 TBSP butter in a medium saucepan. Add garlic and rosemary and cook two minutes. Add flour, whisking constantly until smooth. Pour wine in slowly; cook on low heat until sauce has thickened.
--Add remaining 1 TBSP butter. Once it has melted, add spinach and lemon and cook until the greens are fully wilted and warmed through.
--Lower heat and pour cooked pasta on top of the sauce. Stir until pasta is evenly coated with the sauce. Remove pan from heat and serve immediately.

Fettucine with Kale Pesto, Artichokes, Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Mushrooms

This is the spoon that launched a feast. A feast—and feat—of six and a half dishes, consumed by five dinner party-ers, across a stretch of five hours. I think The Phantom Tollbooth's Mathemagician would approve. But in any case, the verdant dregs you seen on this spoon are a key component to the main meal: a dish of fettucine, enveloped in kale pesto and incorporated with a melange of artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, and sauteéd mushrooms. And the spoon itself? A gift from one friend and neighbor to another. A gift inviting the creation of something warm and delicious, which coaxes us away from our work and worries to gather us around one table.
In writing this, it has occurred to me that spoons factor quite significantly in a number of life's more important dishes. My mother's roughly-forged bread spoon has cast its spell on many a dough. Macaroni and Cheese is, I contend, most appropriately eaten with a spoon. Even milkshakes I prefer spooning up to slurping up—although there is a time and place for slurping. I even recently attended a student art show that showcased an entire exhibit celebrating a student's obsession with spoons, manifested through a cupboard of whittled utensils. I certainly have an appreciation for, if not an obsession with, the spoon. And in this recipe; you get to use spoons twice: first to shuffle the mushrooms through their vinegar and oil mixture, and a second time to mix together pesto and pasta.

Peanut Butter Gnocchi

The recipe I used calls for the potatoes to be smashed through a ricer, one gadget I do not possess. I now realise I could have used a cheese grater to achieve the same effect, but at the time of production, I didn't know this trick, and so I dumped the cooked potatoes into a colander and squeezed them through its holes. The technique was actually quite successful, if time consuming. I spent perhaps ten minutes squishing the potatoes through the colander. But the resulting gnocchi was worth the time, as they are softer and lighter than any gnocchi I've made before.

These peanut butter gnocchi aren't sweet; I reckon with a bit of sugar, perhaps sauteed in butter and cinnamon, they could become a rather tasty dessert. But these particular gnocchi are savory, so I just doused them in a some soy sauce and garnished with crunchy sesame seeds. Next time, I might add sesame seeds to the dough as well, to further contrast the textures of the gritty seeds and the soft, pillowy dumplings.

Adapted from Fine Cooking's Potato Gnocchi recipe

Peanut Butter Gnocchi

Ingredients:

4 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for board

1 tsp salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup peanut butter (I used natural smooth)

Soy sauce, sesame seeds for serving (sesame oil would also be tasty)

Directions:

--Cut potatoes in large chunks; place in a medium pot and cover with water by at least 2 inches. Bring water to a boil, and then simmer until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.

--Drain potatoes and let cool until able to handle. Skin potatoes and mash, using a ricer, cheese grater or large-holed colander. Let cool in a large bowl about 20 minutes, or until room temperature.

--In a small bowl, mix flour and salt. Add egg to the potatoes and then add flour mixture. Mix with your hands until flour is moistened. Add peanut butter and continue mixing until dough begins to form large clumps. Gather dough together and press until one large ball forms.

--Flour a work surface and place dough on surface. Knead carefully until flour is fully incorporated and dough is smooth; don't overmix, or the dough may become tough. If the dough is sticky, wet hands in lieu of adding more flour, to ensure soft, tender dumplings.

--Cover two baking sheets with parchment and sprinkle parchment with flour. Take a lemon-sized piece of dough and roll on the floured surface into a rope about 3/4 inches in diameter. Using a sharp paring or bench knife, cut bite sized pieces of dough, to create about 3/4 inch squares. Transfer gnocchi to baking sheet, keeping pieces apart. Repeat until dough is used up.

(At this point, the gnocchi can sit at room temperature for two to three hours or be frozen. To freeze, put trays of gnocchi in the freezer for an hour and then transfer gnocchi to a Ziploc bag.)

--Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook gnocchi one third at a time. The gnocchi will sink to the bottom of the pot; give a slight stir to separate any pieces that are sticking together and wait until gnocchi float to the surface. Cook for one minute more. Carefully drain gnocchi in a colander, and transfer immediately to a pot and coat in sauce to avoid sticking. In this case, immediately drizzle with soy or teriyaki sauce. Garnish individual servings with sesame seeds. Makes 6 generous servings.