Non {potato} Gnocchi

For the tomato sauce ... I used Amy's recipe but modified it to suit this meal ... by the way, you should try that Fresh Roasted Tomato and Basil w/Pasta recipe ! It's delish too !! Big hit here !

Tomato Sauce:
Preheat your oven to 425F/220C

2 pints grape tomatoes - I just chopped up some romas !
4 cloves garlic, grated
A few drizzles of extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper and salt

Put your tomatoes in a bowl, add garlic, and drizzle with olive oil. Put onto baking sheet. Grind salt and pepper on top. Roast 8 - 10 minutes. When finished, put them in a big bowl and smush 'em up.

Gnocchi
Baby Spinach ... 3 big handfuls, chopped
Ricotta, 200g... (I used the smooth kind because it didn't have preservatives)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Make teaspooon size balls. Refrigerate til ready to cook ... at least 30 minutes. Boil water in large pot. Cook gnocchi in batches, til they rise to the top of the water. Shouldn't take more than a minute or two. Drain well.

Serve by putting tomato sauce on bottom of bowl, carefully add gnocchi and top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Hors D'Ouvers

Lunch at our place today.

Yeah, you get more than one ...

I'll bring you a whole post on this lunch later in the week.

And tomorrow ... I'll be back with Menu Plan Monday after two weeks AWOL.

One week I had no plan.

Last week I had a plan but forgot to post it.

This week, no plan yet but I will make it tomorrow !!!

Spinach and Tofu Lasagna

I'm not convinced that Italians would put tofu in their lasagna and therefore cannot vouch for the authenticity of the Italian-ness of this recipe. I can vouch for it's deliciousity and at the very least will claim it to be some sort of Italian-Asian fusion and therefore close enough to post as Italian.

The inspiration for the recipe came out of a cookbook on my mother's shelf many many years ago. I do not remember the name of it and have made so many adaptions over the years that I think by now it is pretty much my own ...

Here's how I make it ...

1 (big) jar of Pasta Sauce - I like Bertolli Five Brothers Oven Roasted Garlic and Onion !!
8 ounces lasagna noodles
10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach ... thawed and drained

Mix the following to make the tofu/cheese mixture.
1 cup tofu
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup cottage cheese

Mozzarella cheese, grated - to put on top

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Assemble ingredients in a 9x13 baking dish in the following order. Small amount of pasta sauce, noodles, 1/3 of the spinach, 1/3 of the tofu/cheese mixture, pasta sauce. Repeat. And repeat again ! Finish with sauce and then top with moz cheese. Bake for about 40 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

Yummo Spinach Parcels

This one burst open ... Look at all the yummies inside !! I got this recipe off the back of a Puff Pasty Package. I modified it a tiny bit ... I'll post the modified recipe here.

1 onion
garlic
baby spinach, chopped
300g ricotta cheese
150g feta cheese
salt and pepper
fresh mint
1 egg
Puff Pastry

Saute onion and garlic. Add spinach cook til wilted. Mix cheeses in a bowl, add sauteed mixture and fresh mint. The recipe called for 1/2 a bunch, but I probably only added a tsp. I thought that was too much. I think it really only needs a HINT of mint ... if any at all !! Stir in beaten egg. Cut a sheet of puff pastry into four squares. Fill with 2 tbls mixture. bring corners of the pastry into center of parcel. ( it said to brush edges with water ... I forgot and it didn't matter ) When you've made all the parcels, bake on cookie tray lined with baking paper. Bake in moderately hot oven (190C) for about 20 minutes ... or still golden.

The original recipe said to brush the parcels with a beaten egg. I also forgot to do this. OOPS ! Again ... didn't matter !!

These were so yummy ... straight out of the oven, and later reheated in the microwave for dinner, and then again the next day for lunch !!

*** EDITED to add ... I made these again and used lemon thyme instead of mint ! Liked that much much better and will do it that way from now on !!

Also, only made as many as I needed, saved the remaining mixture for the next day ... am actually waiting for the oven to pre-heat to cook them now !!