Sunday, August 21, 2011

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Gnocchi with garden fresh spicy sauce

So I wish I could say I made this gnocchi from scratch, but frankly I didn't have the energy or counter space to make a mixture mound of flour, potato and eggs. Bought these pillowy morsels at World Market!
However, the sauce is partially home made. A co-worker brought me a bag full of farm fresh vegetables that were quickly approaching too much softness to be appetizing, so I decided to make a quick stewy, chunky vegetable sauce.. almost like a ragout. For a more meaty, smoky flavor, I sometimes add ground meatless crumbles.

Here's how the sauce goes..
  • Coarsely chop two beefsteak or roma tomatoes
  • Chop half of a red onion and two cloves of garlic
  • Thinly slice one yellow squash
  • Coarsely chop 1/2 cup fresh spinach
  • Dice one red bell pepper
  • Thaw one cup of meatless crumbles (optional)
  • Teaspoon of italian herbs
  • Red chili flakes
  • Teaspoon sriracha suace
  • 1-1.5 cup of Classico Florentine & Spinach marinara sauce (depending on how saucy you like things..)
  • 1/2 cup skim mozzarella cheese
1. Saute red onion and garlic in red chili flakes and olive oil until tender. Season with very little salt and lots of black pepper. The Classico sauce will have enough salt that you don't need to add extra. If you're going to add meatless crumbles, add them after the onions are cooked. Let them brown up. If you can't stand fake meat, go to step 2.

2. Add yellow squash, bell pepper and tomatoes. Season with italian seasoning. Add Classico and sriracha. Mix well. Cover and let simmer on low for around 20 minutes. You can also add some shredded parm for some tang. Stir occasionally. After about ten minutes, add in the chopped spinach.

3. Boil water, add gnocchi. Once they float to the top, they're cooked.. about 3 minutes!

4. Drain gnocchi and combine with spicy sauce. Mix in a half cup of mozzarella cheese. Serve!

The mozzarella does a fantastic job of thickening up the sauce and making it rich and creamy. The more vegetables, the better. They provide a nice chunky texture to the soft gnocchi.. not to mention, lots of nutrients! I'm so glad I could use all those nice farm veggies to make this spicy, creamy, tangy tomato sauce.