Heavenly Pillows of Goodness

Holy Manna from Heaven!!!!  

Ever since we enjoyed such a loverly dinner at Volare I have been jonesin' for Gnocchi.  And not just any gnocchi.  This needed to be good.  Really good.  Good enough that I wasn't completely disappointed and suffering from anticipated let-down because my flavor memory had different expectations.  

I looked online at different recipes and I was never really convinced until I found The Grizzly Kitchen's post about this being a "go-to" recipe.  As soon as I started reading, I knew this was the one.  [My go-to recipe is probably Spinach Enchiladas.  Though as I type this I'm not sure it's my go-to or it's just  Sweet Sarah's most requested].

Nevertheless, last night we decided  rather than eating out we'd give these little gems a shot.  Gnocchi with Vodka Sauce.  Sounds delish, no?  [What I didn't think about was taking pictures throughout the process.  Honestly, it wasn't until I started cutting the little pillows that I realized they were going to be perfect!  So my apologies.]

All in all, this is not a complicated process.  It is a bit lengthy however.  From the time we put the potatoes in to bake to the time we sat down.....elapsed time probably two and half hours.  Now, now, now.  Don't give up on this recipe yet.  An hour of that time was the oven doing the work baking the potatoes.  

The other hour and half?  Well, just plan ahead.  Open a bottle of wine, prepare some appetizers and enjoy the cooking experience.

Sweet Sarah and I took the divide and conquer method.  She made the sauce, I made the gnocchi.  Both were restaurant worthy [no joke! If you doubt, feel free to Open Table a spot at The Drayer and place an order.  teehee]

I'll let you peruse The Grizzly Kitchen's recipe.  She gives some really good advice.  I'll share the tweaks we made and then the pictures!

Tweaks:

• We cleaned the contents of a 3 lb bag of potatoes and threw them into a roasting pan @ 400 degrees.
• I mashed the potatoes by hand with a potato masher
• Tomatoes, food processor, chopping step, etc:  We totally kept this simple.  We bought diced canned tomatoes.  Eliminated the processor and chopping step.  And threw the entire can in the pot.
• The forking of the gnocchi.  Nope.  Didn't do that either.  An extra step that is only for looks.  [It's like criss-crossing peanut butter cookies with a fork.  Just MASH those things down with a glass and move on people!  No time for that.]

Pre-Vodka, pre-cream.  Simmering for taste and depth.  Yummy!

An up close look at the goodness.  Note the glass of wine helping me along.

Three pounds of potatoes makes a LOT of Gnocchi.
We put one pan in the freezer, then in a zip-lock.
One pan served both of us plenty!

Sweet Sarah adding the cream.  [Note the back of spoon technique.  See Virtual Cocktail Hour for reference.]

And here it is.  Beautiful.  

Toss in some grilled chicken or a nice beautiful salmon filet and this little dish is a superstar!

Enjoy!