Pan Seared Gnocchi with Leeks & Tomatoes

When you think of Italian food you probably go to pizza, spaghetti, and other pastas. Further down the list, and too often overlooked, is gnocchi. Gnocchi (pronounced N'YAW-key) comes from the Italian word nocca, meaning knuckle. Gnocchi, as food author Mark Bittman describes it, is:

"A simple Italian dumpling made from cooked potatoes, flour, and sometimes an egg. They're boiled and sauced."

One popular brand available.

One hopes they should be readily available in most supermarkets (depending on location). Take some
time next time you're in your pasta aisle to look for them. They're usually in a plastic tray and come in 2 cup servings.

Since I've been serving gnocchi, I've always "boiled and sauced" it with pesto, tomato sauce, or olive oil. I was recently reading an Eating Well magazine and found a recipe that called for crisping the gnocchi in a skillet with olive oil. No boiling needed. The pan searing adds a nice toothy texture but the "potato pillow." as it's often described, still absorbs the flavors that you add. I'm a convert! This is a great simple weeknight meal and the common denominator is the crispy gnocchi. The most basic recipe would be to add either pesto or a tomato sauce for the most simple and quick meal. You can play with adding basil leaves, mushrooms, onions, sun dried tomatoes, whatever you have in the fridge.

I adapted the Eating Well recipe as a starting point but decided to start fairly true to the original.

Pan Seared Gnocchi with Leeks and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

• Gnocchi - 1 package (15-17 oz.)
• Leeks - 2 medium, cleaned and sliced
• Cherry tomatoes - 1 pint basket, halved
• Garlic - 1-2 cloves, minced
• White wine - 1/4 cup
• Parmesan cheese - 1/3 cup finely shredded
• Butter - 2 tbsp. 
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a 12" skillet over medium high heat. Add gnocchi. Use a spatula to create a single layer. Let sit untouched for at least 5 minutes. Add some salt and pepper while it cooks. Shake pan to turn over the gnocchi and use the spatula to turn over any that need turning. Let the other side sit undisturbed for a period of time. Continue to shake the pan until the gnocchi has gently browned. Total time around 10-15 minutes. As you shake the pan you will hear the difference as the gnocchi gets crispy. When sufficiently crispy (but not blackened) transfer to a bowl and set aside.
2. Reduce heat to medium. Add more olive oil to the skillet and add the sliced leeks. Cook for a few minutes until they begin to soften, about 2-3 minutes. The rings will start to separate.
3. Add the halved tomatoes and stir to mix. Add the minced garlic and stir until fragrant. Add butter and wine and cook for a few minutes. The tomatoes should just start to soften. 
4. Return the gnocchi to the skillet and stir until everything is coated. 
5. Turn off heat. Add Parmesan cheese and stir to mix. Plate and top with some black pepper or red pepper flakes. Garnish with more shredded cheese, some dried herbs such as parsley, basil, or a mix. 

 Serves 2-4

Tomatillo Salsa

This is the time of year in California when everyone's trees and gardens are in full production. Peaches, corn, plums, tomatoes, cherries, you name it. There's so much you have to eat it, preserve it, or give it away to your friends, colleagues, or neighbors.

Such a bounty was found at my workplace. I noticed a big basket of freshly picked tomatillos in the lunch room. I kept my eye on them and by Friday afternoon they were still there. So I ended up taking the whole thing home which turned out to be two pounds worth. I stopped by the grocery store on the way home for cilantro and Serrano chilies. I made this salsa on a Sunday afternoon.

A few lessons were learned with this preparation. Turns out those tomatillos were from a co-worker's garden. And, as it turned out, we both made salsa verde over the weekend but didn't realize it until she brought me a jar on Monday morning. I had also brought in a jar of my salsa to share with my office mates. So we did a salsa tasting contest at a department meeting. We didn't tell people who made which of the salsas but we supplied some tortilla chips and asked them for comments, input, and a vote for their favorite.

The results taught me:
Roast the tomatillos - I roasted the tomatillos which gave me an advantage. She followed a different recipe which had you boil the tomatillos along with jalapeno peppers. Taste testers commented that mine was "sweeter" and "more flavorful." The little black flecks in the salsa improves the visual appeal.

Don't skip cilantro and garlic - Garlic and cilantro add more depth and flavor. Even though there's certain part of the population that will say they don't like cilantro, it can't overpower everything else in the salsa. The cilantro will be a distant, unidentifiable flavor. My co-worker skipped these two ingredients.

Add a finishing liquid - Let's face it, when you take your salsa verde out of the fridge is shouldn't have the consistency of cold oatmeal. That's where my co-worker won a few votes (including mine!). I had both salsas in the fridge overnight but I gave them a few hours of room temperature treatment before the meeting so that the flavors would come through more for both. But I also wanted mine to be more like a chunky salsa. Her salsa had a consistency that looked more like commercial salsa verde right out of the fridge.

We compared notes after the meeting. She let know that she poured the finished salsa from the food processor into a warm skillet with 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. She said she read online that the olive oil helps with a smooth consistency and adds an attractive shine or sparkle. I came home and gave it a try with my remaining salsa. If you look online, you'll see some recipes call for water, lime juice, or broth.

Finally, if you don't can your salsa, you can also freeze it. I poured the finished product into ice cube trays and froze them for a few days before I popped them into a freezer storage bag for future use.

Oh, and of the 11 people in my work department, my salsa won 7-4.

Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients

• Tomatillos, 1 pound, husked, rinsed, halved
• Onion, 2 medium yellow, diced
• Garlic, 2 cloves, chopped
• Serrano chili, 2 halved and seeded (optional)
• Cilantro, leaves and stems
• Salt
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Line a sheet pan with foil and turn on broiler.
2. Halve the tomatillos and put them cut side down on the sheet pan and broil for 5-7 minutes. You want some browning to occur (and they will get mushy).
3. Place all ingredients (except olive oil) in a food processor and puree until smooth.
4. Heat skillet with 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil. Gently pour in the salsa into the skillet and stir until salsa and oil are uniform. 
5. Turn off heat and let cool. 

Note: Everybody's heat tolerance is unique. So you have to figure out what works for you. If you love salsa, you probably already like spice and heat. To my taste, jalapenos have unfortunately been bred to be about as spicy as a bell pepper. So I usually don't use them anymore. Serrano chilies have a bit of a kick. Most of the heat is in the seeds, so regardless of the pepper you can leave the seeds in or out. 

Also, the heat dissipates with time. When I tasted immediately after preparation it was very spicy. But a day or two later the heat was less intense.