Gnocchi in Tomato Cream Sauce

After two long weeks of midterms, I finally had a chance to try and cook something new.  Since I love noodles of all sorts, I decided to rely on an easy to please type of dish, pasta.  Yet, even as a pasta lover, I have never took the time to make my own from scratch.  Now, in my apartment, there is a very intimidating sack of potatoes, that one of my room mates desperately needed us to finish.  So as I thought about what to make on my free friday afternoon, I decided to use the free ingredient I had and made gnocchi.  Now pastas, let alone gnocchi, are not usually extraordinarily tasty by itself, but it's the sauce that helps pull together dish and make it shine.  So I asked myself, how can i make a nice sauce to go with these tasty potato pillows.  I figured a quick and easy spin on a cheap college student's favorite: creamy cheese with a favorite tomato sauce. The tangy sauce with the hearty gnocchi make it a wonderful filling and budget friendly dish.  Please Enjoy, Cook.Eat.Love.Smile

10.28.11: Gnocchi in Tomato Cream Sauce
Photo credit: Christine Be

Gnocchi in Tomato Cream Sauce (Serves 5)

Gnocchi

5 medium russet potatoes

3.5 - 4.5 cups of all-purpose flour

2 eggs

¼ cup of parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons of olive oil

½ tablespoon of garlic powder

½  tablespoon of salt. 

Tomato Cream Sauce

1 Jar of your favorite tomato sauce (Prego, Ragu, etc.)

2 tablespoons of cream cheese

1 tablespoon of honey or sugar

Prep-work:

1.     Peel and boil potatoes until able to be mashed

2.     Let the potatoes cool until able to be handled

3.     Mash the potatoes as fine as possible

Procedure:

1.     Take the potatoes that have been cooled/mashed and add the 3 eggs and incorporate evenly

2.     Add the 3.5 cups of all-purpose flour, ¼ cup of parmesan, 2 table spoons of olive oil, ½ tablespoon of garlic powder, and ½ tablespoon of salt

3.     Mix all the ingredients by kneading the mixture into a sticky dough

4.     Then add flour accordingly so that the dough does not stick to the bottom of the bowl 

5.     Let the mixture rest for 15 minutes

6.     Take a 4 oz chunk of dough and roll out into about a 1in diameter snake

7.     Cut into 1inch pieces to create small “pillow” shapes

8.     Either freeze the gnocchi on a sheet tray for later use, or boil for about 5 minutes until they float to the top

9.     Drain the gnocchi in a strainer and let all the excess water drain out

10.  While the gnocchi drain, prepare a non-stick pan medium high with a very thin layer of oil to cover the bottom and a medium sauce pan

11.  Place the gnocchi into the hot pan and pan fry until golden brown and pour the jar of tomato sauce into the sauce pan

12.  Place 2 tablespoons of cream cheese into the tomato sauce and stir until fully incorporated

13.  Pour tomato cream sauce over the crispy and soft gnocci and enjoy.