Gnocchi 3 ways

As a teacher, we regularly have a 'book box' at school; cheap books from outside firms that we can order. As usual, before half term, there was the odd cookery book. Now, I'm someone who already has many, many cookbooks, but this one caught my interest. Firstly, the recipes all looked good. Secondly, they were short and simple and thirdly, each had relatively few ingredients. It was Gino D'Acampo's first book, 'Fantastico', and it was a pleasure to take home, sit in the sun in the garden and browse through.

I was so excited that I've tried two recipes, both on the same day! I hadn't however, thought this through. Gnocchi Pomodoro and Pizza Alla Napoletana were my two choices; pizza as it looked delicious and I had a 'bottom of the fridge' to empty so seemed a good idea. The second recipe was specifically for the boyf. as he loves Gnocchi and, whilst I've never particularly enjoyed it on previous occasions, I thought I'd give it a go. What I failed to consider was the fact that both were dough based and, as a consequence, by the time I had finished, the kitchen looked more like a bakery: flour covered and glued itself to every available surface, including me!

Both were very easy to prepare and I added a range of toppings to the pizza. It was the one and only pizza base I've ever made that actually went bubbly and crispy at the edges, a first for me!

Since I'd spent so long making it, even I had a bowl of the gnocchi. The most exciting part is waiting for it to bubble up into the pan and float to the top! I served it with the suggested sauce, a simple tomato and basil reduction.

The second recipe for the Gnocchi, since I had at least another two servings left, was an even simpler basil pesto. Simply blitz basil with salt, pepper and olive oil. roast some halved cherry tomatoes in the oven until soft. Mix the cooked hot Gnocchi with the pesto and serve topped with the tomatoes. It was even better than the first recipe and perfect as a summer starter for a dinner party.

The third recipe is also very easy but particularly tasty. Toss the cooked Gnocchi in butter, salt, pepper and torn sage leaves. Serve hot.

If, like me, you don't really like Gnocchi, this is definitely the recipe to try, and all the sauces really are delicious, so I urge you to give them a go. I do, however, suggest that you make either the Gnocchi or the Pizza and don't do them on the same night! Unless you like looking like Fred!

Monday Night Treats

Had a course locally today so got home a bit earlier than usual! Even managed a trip to the shop to buy food (rather than the leaf-blower I spent last week's food money on!) Getting home early gave me lots of time to cook. I had been dying to make Dan's chocolate fondant (more about those later in the week!) and also wanted to use fresh ingredients in a light starter and main.

We began with Insalata Caprese (sorry Dan, I'm really not trying to copy all your brilliant ideas!) I used baby on-the-vine tomatoes, packet mozzarella and fresh basil with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The mozzarella was tasteless, but if I had a local deli, I'd definitely have used it for this ingredient! You can't beat real, fresh, creamy mozzarella balls. I wonder if you can freeze them?! Ideas on a postcard...

I had two pieces of salmon that needed eating, so simply pan-fried them, wilted some spinach with butter and pepper for their bed and baked some herby scones instead of mash / potatoes / rice. All served with a dollop of aioli.

Pudding was delicious, and I won't spoil the later post by telling you now, that they worked out perfectly. All I need now are some of those lovely round pudding-type tins that I can't remember the name of!