Whole Wheat Gnocchi?

On a recent trip to a Festival Foods, I noticed a package of "whole wheat gnocchi." Given my infatuation with gnocchi and anything whole wheat, I immediately and impulsively threw them in my basket. It wasn't until later that I realized this gnocchi was made from sweet potato and potato pasta can't really be whole wheat. Actually, you can make gnocchi from many things (pumpkin, spinach, etc.) I was just disappointed that these were not as healthy as I had hoped. A third of the package only has one gram of fiber!

No matter. I made them anyway and they were just as delicious as plain old white gnocchi. The mere idea of a healthy gnocchi actually inspired me to forgo my usual cream sauce and create something less fatty. I made a nice sun dried tomato sauce, and topped the dish with Parmesan. Here's the recipe for my sauce.

Ingredients:
1 can tomato sauce
10-12 sun dried tomatoes
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup parsley, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup black olives, sliced

First, soak you're dried tomatoes in hot water for about 15 minutes. Strain and chop the tomatoes, reserving the liquid. In a small pot with some olive oil, saute the onion and pepper flakes until onion is clear. Add tomato sauce, dried tomatoes and garlic. Cook at medium heat until tomatoes soften a little. Add olives and parsley. Continue to cook this at a low heat, while adding the liquid little by little until you reach a nice consistency. Puree if desired.

Boil and strain your gnocchi. Serve with sun dried tomato sauce, and top with Parmesan and parsley for garnish.

Gnocchi with Pink Sauce

Today I made one of my regulars, gnocchi with pink sauce. I used store bought pasta, because, lets be honest, homemade gnocchi is too much work when you're cooking for one. It will most likely be a few days before I even manage to finish these leftovers.

As I said, I have made this before. However, I never follow an exact recipe for the sauce. In the past, I've used basil, but the weather's getting cold so I'm switching to more functional herbs. This time I used thyme. Either way, I love pink sauce because it both zesty and creamy, without being too much of either.

Ingredients:
1 package potato gnocchi
1 small yellow onion
2 tomatoes
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
3 sprigs thyme
8 oz can tomato sauce
About 6 oz heavy cream
1 large splash of red wine
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated cheese of choice.

This dish is pretty easy, and you can vary the amount of cheese/cream/tomato sauce you use depending on your preference.

First, dice the onion and saute until clear. Add chopped tomatoes and simmer mixture until they have collapsed. Add tomato sauce, garlic, wine and thyme. Simmer until sufficiently smooth. Remove thyme and add cream, salt and pepper. Cover sauce and boil gnocchi in water for 2-3 minutes or until they float to the top. But be careful, they are easy to overcook. Drain. Top pasta with sauce and grated cheese.