Italian, Other Main Dishes, Vegetarian (or easy fix)
Recipe:
Instructables, not the place you'd normally think of going for recipes, had this low-carb/high yum recipe for gnocchi in one of their emails. I was a little daunted by the amount of butter in the original sauce, so I went looking for other options. Seems like anything you might want to mix with pasta would work...
RICOTTA-BASED GNOCCHI
(from http://www.instructables.com/id/Fluffy-Ricotta-Gnocchi-From-Scratch-With-Brown-But/)
1 cup good quality Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup flour, plus 2 or more tbs for dusting
3 egg yolks
1 1/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 4.5 oz)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced parsley (I used 1 green onion)
1/4 t black pepper
Put the ricotta into a medium bowl and use a large fork to smooth it out a bit. Sprinkle the flour on top, and with the fork mix together until the mixture becomes lumpy and the flour is well blended into the ricotta. Add the 3 egg yolks and gently incorporate into the flour-ricotta mixture. Sprinkle the black pepper over, add the Parmesan and parsley and stir everything together until a dough comes together. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two until it easily comes together into a ball. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour, but try to add as little as possible. The dough should be slightly sticky, which helps make the gnocchi extra fluffy. Place the ball of dough into a bowl (you can use the same one you mixed it in) and let it sit in the fridge for at least 45 minutes. Dough can also be made the day before and allowed to sit in fridge overnight.
Remove gnocchi from the fridge, flatten ball slightly and cut the dough into 4 even portions. Lightly flour a large tray or baking sheet that can hold gnocchi in a single layer and set aside. On a lightly floured cuttable surface, roll each portion into a “rope”. Cut the rope in half and continue to roll each half further until about 1/2 of an inch thick. So 4 portions become 8 ropes.
Use a cutter or pastry scraper to cut each rope (just line them up and cut together) into about 1 inch long pieces. Move the gnocchi to the prepared tray and place in fridge while you make the sauce.
[[MAKE SAUCE]]
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the gnocchi to the boiling water in 2 batches, so as not to overcrowd. Cook a few minutes, until all the gnocchi have floated up to the surface. Scoop out and add to sauce.
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GARLIC PARMESAN CREAM SAUCE WITH SHRIMP
(from http://damndelicious.net/2016/12/17/shrimp-and-gnocchi-with-garlic-parmesan-cream-sauce/)
1 lb shrimp, peeled
1/4 cup unsalted butter
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth, or more, as needed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Whisk in chicken broth & thyme until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in half and half and Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more milk as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
After your gnocchi is cooked, cook shrimp briefly in same pot.
3 medium tomatoes
1 pound fresh chorizo, casings removed
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, minced
salt & pepper
1 carrot, coarsely grated
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 oz tomato paste (1/2 small can)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for garnish
Working over a medium bowl, coarsely grate the tomatoes on a box grater; discard the skins. You should have about 1 3/4 cups of tomato puree.
In a deep medium skillet, cook the chorizo over moderate heat, breaking up any clumps, until beginning to brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Scrape the chorizo onto a plate.
Heat the oil in the skillet. Add the onion, season with a generous pinch each of salt and black pepper and cook over moderate heat until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the carrot and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste. Deglaze the skillet with the wine, scraping up any browned bits. Cook until the wine has reduced by two-thirds, about 3 minutes. Return the chorizo to the skillet with the fresh tomato puree, sugar and chicken stock. Bring the sauce to a boil, then simmer over moderately low heat, stirring, until reduced by half, about 45 minutes. Stir in the 1/4 cup of cheese. Keep warm.
