Gnocchi

While I've heard of gnocchi, and even had it a few times at restaurants, I never tried it at home until last week. (We're not talking "made from scratch" here, but the package you buy at the grocery store.) We tried half of the package with something similar to an Alfredo sauce, but it wasn't terribly exciting. I wasn't expecting the tomato sauce I used on the second half of the package to be any better, so I didn't take any pictures. However, Wayne said it was really, really, good, and I liked it too, so here's the recipe.

Gnocchi with Tomato Cream Sauce

2 pounds gnocchi, cooked as directed
1 tablespoon butter or oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
32 oz. can tomatoes
1 cup heavy cream
Parmesan cheese to taste

Heat oil in pan and saute chopped vegetables until soft. Stir in seasonings and tomatoes and simmer for about 30 minutes. Puree in blender (or use a deep pan with immersion blender) and stir in cream. Place cooked gnocchi in a baking dish, top with sauce, and bake at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes. Top with some grated Parmesan cheese and serve.

This is a combination of a couple of recipes I looked at and we liked how it turned out. The red pepper adds a fun kick without being overpowering. We only had 1/2 pound of gnocchi, so I adjusted it just a bit, using half the tomatoes and cream with the same amount of vegetables. Then I only needed about half of that sauce, so I need to figure out what to use it on next!