Posts Tagged ‘rosemary’

My husband hates Rosemary.  I know, it is absurd really.  How can you hate Rosemary?  It is so fresh tasting and full of wonderful flavor.   I don’t know what’s wrong with him.

I took the opportunity last week while he was traveling for work to make a rosemary cream sauce to go with this pumpkin gnocchi.  I know the picture kind of looks like chicken nuggets covered in a rosemary cream sauce but I promise it is not!  I’m not awesome at making homemade gnocchi look all pretty and shaped the same.  My gnocchi tends to look like chicken nuggets.  So I like to call my gnocchi “rustic”.  I figure anything that looks a little rough around the edges can be called rustic and no one can question you!

(Yummy!  My first bite, perfectly covered in parmesan cheese.)

pumpkin gnocchi adapted from ebfarm.com

Pumpkin Gnocchi :

1 1/2 cups of pureed pumpkin

2 tbs butter

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Large pot of water for boiling the gnocchi

Rosemary Cream Sauce:

2 -3″ rosemary stems (roughly)

4 tbs unsalted butter

3 tsp crushed garlic

2 cups milk

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup veggie broth

2 tbs corn starch

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and extra for sprinkling

Pumpkin Gnocchi:

In a large skillet heat the butter until it starts the bubble.  Add in the pumpkin puree and allow the pumpkin to simmer slightly until it reduces down.  The pumpkin needs to be fairly dry so allow it to cook for about 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool.  Add in the egg yolk  and whisk together.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, salt, and pepper.  Knead the pumpkin and the flour together to create the dough.  Add more flour slowly if your dough is too wet.

Cut the dough into two sections so it is easier to work with.  Roll one section out into a long rope about 1” thick.  Take a sharp knife and cut 1” cubes from the dough and set aside.  Repeat with second half of dough.  You can shape your gnocchi into any shape so feel free to get creative here.

In a large pot bring water to boil.  Add the gnocchi to the pot a little at a time.  When the gnocchi floats to the top of the water remove them with a slotted spoon and repeat until all the gnocchi is cooked.  Set aside to dry on a plate.

Rosemary Sauce:

In a large skillet heat the butter and rosemary (still attached to the stems) and garlic until the butter begins to simmer and slightly brown.  Pour in the vegetable stock and the milk.  Sprinkle in the corn starch and pepper; stir until the starch is fully mixed in and not clumpy.  Allow the sauce to cook until it reduces and thickens stirring occasionally.  Remove the rosemary stems leaving any needles that have fallen off in the sauce.  Finally add in the parmesan cheese and allow it to melt.

Add the gnocchi to the sauce stirring to combine.  Plate and serve garnishing the gnocchi with parmesan cheese and a sprig of rosemary.

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Here we go… it’s what we’ve all been waiting for…the meat!  I love beef short ribs.  They have so much flavor and are actually pretty easy to make despite what you might think.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of chopping and they take hours to cook, but everything goes in one pot and cooks to perfection.  Is there anything better than meat so tender it falls right off the bone?  I didn’t think so.  Now, picture that with a little chocolatey goodness and you pretty much have the best meal ever!  There were a lot of mmmms from me and my husband as we tested this meal for the party.

This is really a great go-to recipe to keep on hand.  It is perfect for entertaining or a Sunday evening meal.  And don’t tell my dinner guests, but short ribs are super cheap!  The recipe is very versatile, so don’t feel like you have to stick completely to the ingredients list.  I doubled the amount of celery and carrots from the original recipe because I wanted more vegetables.  If you’d like your sauce a little more saucy, then feel free to cut both of those back to 1/4 cup.  Also, if you’re making this one weekend and don’t have chocolate on hand or just don’t want a chocolatey meal (heaven forbid) then just omit the two chocolate ingredients.  It will still be a perfectly tasty meal without them because HELLO, you have meat so tender it is falling off the bone!!

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