Gnocchi and cleaning out the fridge.

Les sent me a link for Ricotta Gnocchi this morning, saying "Hey, you might like this."  Last week, Bri sent me a link for Gnocchi with sauteed vegetables.  I looked at the pictures.

I've never had gnocchi.  

The author of the Ricotta Gnocchi swore they were a velvety delight.  I've seen plastic wrapped pasta in the grocery case, but they just looked like little pasta bullets.  Surely, homemade had to be better.  

I didn't have any ricotta, but I made it last week, so I KNOW what it's comprised of.  I had plain yogurt, so I set up a colander and coffee filter, and drained it.  

I followed the instructions pretty closely, making something that resembled choux paste.  You can't use too much flour or they'll be doughy, and you can't overmix, or you'll develop the gluten in the flour.  Stir it in and go.  It was pretty messy.  Would it be quicker to just plop them in like dumplings?  Or spaetzle?  Maybe so.  

I chopped up broccolini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and garlic, then sauteed them in a little olive oil.  They needed some salt, so I threw in a little boullion paste and water.  Perfect.

I slid half the gnocchi into boiling salted water.  They floated in just a few minutes, so I pulled them out quickly.  I think next time I make these, I'll just keep a colander on a plate, because I had a little challenge serving DRY gnocchi.  I patted them quickly with paper towels, topped them with a little browned butter and parmesean.    

They were pretty good, maybe a little tangy because of the yogurt, but not bad.  My crisper is empty, the yogurt put to good use, and all ripe tomatoes were chopped into supper.  I feel thrifty!