For the love of Gnocchi!

Basil & Garlic Gnocchi...talk about good stuff!!!!

There is a pasta called gnocchi (pronounced nee-okee) that my son has fallen in love with lately. I have made it from scratch and have bought it ready made in the store and it's good both ways! Honestly...it takes a lot of effort to make homemade pasta so if you don't have time or know-how...just buy some good stuff at the store! Anyways...gnocchi is a pasta that is made with potatoes....and seriously...what is better than that?!?! If you haven't tried it...do so now!!! It's even delicious with no sauce at all! It's hard not to eat it all right after it's boiled and drained!

Boil the Gnocchi just until it is soft and it will rise to the top when it's ready!

Once your garlic and basil are sauteed, toss in the gnocchi and coat the pasta with the sauce.
Let the gnocchi soak up some of the sauce and allow the gnocchi "to brown" a bit in the olive oil and butter. Toss on medium-high heat for about one minute.


Olive Oil Sauce for Gnocchi
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
3-4 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup reserved pasta water (to add if you want a "saucier" sauce)


Saute the garlic in the butter and olive oil until the garlic is soft. Add the basil leaves and saute with the garlic for about 1 minute. Add the drained Gnocchi and toss with the basil and garlic sauce. If you want more liquid, add a little of the pasta water that you reserved. Once pasta is coated, serve on a platter with shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

Gnocchi
6 potatoes, peeled, quartered
2-3 tablespoons salt
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups all-purpose flour

Boil the potatoes until soft, about 20 minutes. Drain well. Rice potatoes with a ricer and place on cookie sheets to cool. Let potatoes completely dry out.
Bring large stew pot of salted water to a boil.

Once the potatoes are dry, put them in a large bowl and mix in the eggs. Gradually but quickly stir in the flour.

Place the dough on a work surface and divide into 6 pieces. Adding flour as necessary, roll each piece of dough into a rope 1/2 inch wide. Slice ropes into 1/2-inch pieces. Drop gnocchi into boiling water, in batches. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes; they should rise to the surface when fully cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain slightly before combining in your favorite recipe.

Serve the gnocchi with shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on top.

We usually eat this as a meal but it's also a great side dish to grilled chicken or shrimp!

Pesto Surf n Turf Saute

After making that pesto, I definitely was in the mood for some sort of pesto pasta. I decided to make a surf n turf saute to serve with my creamy pesto pasta.

Making a surf n turf saute can save you money too because you only have to buy a couple Filet Mignon steaks rather than having to serve each person a whole expensive steak by themselves. This recipe feeds 6 and only uses two 6 oz Filet Mignons steaks. Plus, I love using pan drippings for the base of a lot of my sauces. It helps me save time and keeps the tastes all in one family.

Pesto Surf n Turf Saute

10-12 large uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined

10-12 scallops, I used sea scallops though you can use bay scallops, just use double the amount

2- 6oz Filet Mignon cut up into 1 inch chunks (you can substitute sirloin or strip steak)

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons pesto

2 tablespoons olive oil

8-10 asparagus spears (you can substitute broccoli here)

salt & pepper to taste

Creamy Pesto Pasta Sauce:

Drippings from your Pesto Saute

2-3 cups half n half, heavy cream or milk

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

salt to taste

Here's why I thought of doing something surf n turf style....good Nebraska Filet Mignon in my fridge.

The pesto will be the base for the saute and then I'll use the pan drippings that will have the pesto in it for the base of my pasta sauce.

Asparagus will be sauteed with the meat for flavor, color and because we've gotta have some veggies in our meal!

Chop up the asparagus into small pieces.

I used a grill pan. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in your pan and then throw all the meat & asparagus in the pan and saute. Sprinkle the meat and asparagus with salt and pepper and add 2 tablespoons of the pesto with an additional 2 tablespoons of olive oil.

Saute for about 4-5 minutes, or just until the seafood is done. You will have some "sauce" in the pan. You'll want to separate the sauce and put it in a small saucepan.

The shrimp is done right when it turns pink and the scallops are opaque and both are slightly firm. Do not overcook the shrimp and scallops. Your Filet will be cooked about medium to medium well if you cook it with your seafood. If you like your meat to be medium-rare or rare, you can saute it separately and add it to the mixture after your seafood is cooked.

This is the pan drippings that I used as the base for the pasta sauce..I had a few pieces of asparagus that fell into the saucepan...that's ok...it'll just add flavor to the pasta sauce. If you don't have a lot of pan drippings, remove your meat & asparagus from the pan and put the pan back on the stove. Heat the pan up and add about a cup of water and using a wooden spoon, try to get as much of the spices and drippings that are stuck on the pan off to create a nice base for your pasta sauce.

You add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 cups of half and half or heavy cream to the drippings and heat to right before it boils. Turn the heat off and add 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, mix well. If the sauce is not thick enough, put back on the heat for another minute or two...but the sauce will thicken as it sits so don't thicken it too much. Taste to make sure it has enough salt for your liking. I added a pinch of salt to my sauce.

You can serve this with any kind of pasta. I used Rigatoni. You can mix your pasta with the sauce or you can drizzle the sauce on top like I did. The sauce is pretty rich so I prefer to drizzle the sauce on top of the pasta.

I liked scooping up the pasta sauce with these big shrimp. Yum.

This was so good. This is seriously a dinner you could make to impress your family or guests. This is fine dining at home!