Will and I are trying to grocery shop less times during the week in order to save a few bucks and to monitor what goes in and out of the fridge more. We've been pretty well stocked on meats and veggies, so we have been attempting to shop only on Saturday and Sunday, and not again during the week. This is actually simple to do, as long as you plan correctly. We have had two successful weeks and are about to embark on our third! Will sent me an e-mail full of Budget Bytes recipes to chose from so we could figure out what to eat this week. After making our selections, we decided what to make for dinner tonight and went to do our shopping.
I ended up in charge of dinner tonight, which I was really excited about. Will had found a gnocchi recipe on BB and I thought it was going to be a huge challenge. We're not big pasta eaters, so the pressure was on to get something so decadent, right. Well, needless to say, the whole thing went off without a hitch and it was actually a pretty quick and easy recipe to make. You probably have everything except the ricotta cheese on hand, so that's step one of being awesome. All you have to do is combine the ingredients for the gnocchi, roll it, slice it, and stick the little guys in boiling water. I added some nutmeg, white pepper and garlic powder, per Will's suggestion. You could really add anything you want and it'd probably taste pretty good. The recipe ended up making so much that we've decided to freeze half of it for a later date!I'm really slow in the kitchen so it was funny for Will to watch me drop the gnocchi one by one into the pot of boiling water (jerking my arm back so I wouldn't get splashed) only to have them start floating to the top before I even got them all in there! Ugh. Luckily, it didn't end up mattering too much. After they were all floating at the top, I drained the gnocchi and we stirred in the alfredo sauce that Will came up with a long time ago. Voila! It was done. I highly recommend this recipe if you want to splurge on your tastebuds, but not on your budget!
Cooking Notes: We followed Budget Bytes recipe for the gnocchi, but the sauce is all Will's creation. It's great to have the gnocchi in the freezer whenever you want them and coming up with a sauce is fairly simple!
Easy Ricotta Gnocchi (adapted from Budget Bytes; serves 4)
Gnocchi
1 15-oz. container ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1 tsp olive oil
Approximately 2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
10 cranks fresh cracked pepper
Alfredo Sauce
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/2 tsp nutmeg
S&P
In a medium bowl, whisk together the ricotta cheese, olive oil, egg, salt and freshly cracked pepper. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until it forms a soft sticky dough (about 1 1/2 cups). Begin boiling a large pot of water. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead in about another 1/2 cup of flour or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands. The dough should still be very soft in texture.
Divide the dough into six pieces. Roll each piece out into a rope about 1-inch thick. Cut the rope into 1-inch sections. Roll each piece of dough on the back of a fork to give it a ridged texture.* When the water is boiling vigorously, drop the dough pieces in the water. As the gnocchi boil, they will begin to rise to the surface. Once all of them are floating to the top, let them boil for about 30 seconds to 1 minute more to ensure thorough cooking. Drain in a colander.
While gnocchi is cooking, begin sauce. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 1 tbsp of flour, letting it rise to a bubble. Pour in 1 cup milk, then bring to a gentle boil again. Turn off stovetop, stir in Parmesan, then sprinkle with nutmeg, S&P. Serve gnocchi in a bowl and spoon sauce over top. Enjoy!
Recipe: Budget Bytes: Easy Ricotta Gnocchi
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