Pasta Summer

i dont make pasta very often. i think a few months went by, actually, during which i didnt make pasta at all. i dont really know why - maybe for some reason i think that boiling water takes too long, even though that is a bit of an absurd notion. or i'm just not in the mood. BUT a few times this summer, i had vegetables and cheese and nothing to do with them except for throw them over some delicious pasta. above is actually one of the most delicious pasta dishes i have ever made, and if i hadnt portioned it out bringing it to work, i would have eat the ENTIRE thing in 1 sitting because it was so incredibly good. what made it so good? fresh gnocchi (no, i didnt make it, i got it from wholefoods), tomatoes, mozzerella, and fresh basil pesto (now that one i DID make, with basil from my farmshare). it sounds so simple, but the combo of the gnocchi and the homemade pesto was just incredible.


pasta dish number 2? well, i had a party a few weeks back, and one of the things that i made was an eggplant dip - i roasted some eggplant (coated in a little bit of olive oil) and then chopped it up with some parsley and more olive oil into a little spread. well, i had some leftover, and so i threw it in with some pasta, more tomato, and more mozzerella. it was also quite tasty, though not as incredible as the gnocchi. ah well, not everything can be amazing.

Delicious gnocchi dish

So, back in october, the parentals were in town for several days, and i thought it would be nice to cook dinner at my apartment instead of going out every night. so i looked through my magazines and formulated an elaborate dinner menu, and started prep the night before, as i had to braise the short ribs for 3 hours (yes, i went all out). one of the dishes that i made for that night was a sweet potato gnocchi that is served with fresh sage and chestnuts. it was such a hit that we made it for christmas dinner as well.

my first time really making pasta, outside of a class, and i went all out with gnocchi! its half sweet potato, half regular potato. the recipe (from a gourmet magazine, which i am so sad they decided to stop publishing btw) called for a potato ricer...which i of course did not own! i mentioned this to my mother after and she said "oh, i have grandma's! i'll bring it up next time i'm in boston!" ...so now i have a potato ricer for the oh so often occurrence of needing one. anywho, this instead meant that i needed to use a grater on the potatoes, which i started by roasting. yet another burn-the-fingers type experience. this is starting to be a habit apparently. anyway, grated the potatoes, spread them to cool, made the gnocchi, rolled them out, cut and forked, as shown in the picture above. refrigerator for the ones to use the next day, and freezer for the others (recently pulled some out for dinner one night...delicious still)

as for the sauce...sliced roasted chesnuts super thin, and then fried them. i am very excited, i got a mandoline for christmas, so next time i will have to use it! i then fried fresh sage leaves...about 30 seconds or so. they continue crisping up after coming off the heat. crispy = nice and crunchy and has such a delicious flavor! then some butter with the oil and add in the gnocchi once done cooking. It was quite the delicious flavor profile, with the meatiness of the roasted chesnuts, and the crispy crunchiness of the sage with the sweetness of the gnocchi.

when we made it at christmas, mom grabbed sage from the garden, and it was frozen so she had to rehydrate it. because of this, it didnt really crisp up well when it was fried. really disappointing, actually, so i recommend actually using fresh sage leaves. Ditto with the roasted chestnuts - she had some she had roasted weeks before, and she rehydrated them...it was awful! they were soggy and thus very difficult to slice thinly...instead you really need to use roasted chestnuts from a jar.

sprinkled with parmesan cheese...delicious!