Stuffed Gnocchi

When we were in Padova over the summer, we went to a restaurant and had Stuffed Gnocchi; they were amazing. The stuffing seemed to be similar to a ravioli filling. The outside was a green potato dough. The contrast between the green and white was pretty cool. They were served in a white sauce, with arugula and cheese. They were pretty big - like the size of a meatball - so there was only 5 on the plate. We decided to try to replicate them at home.

For the outer dough, we made a standard potato gnocchi (see here). We kept it white; in the end, I wish we had colored it with spinach or tomato, to give the dish some additional color.

For the stuffing, we decided to go with a basic ricotta filling, similar to what we make for ravioli. We mixed some ricotta cheese with egg (to bind it together), some parmigiana cheese, chopped fresh parsley, grated fresh nutmeg, and s&p. We mixed it up, but we felt it was too loose to work properly as a filling, so we added some flour. It helped, but we didn't want to add too much, as it was beginning to change the flavor of the ricotta.

Once we had the two parts, we made little beds of gnocchi. We placed a small dollop of filling it he middle, then tried to close the dough around the cheese. It wasn't easy: the potato was uneven around the stuffing.

As we brought the water to a boil, we made a quick sage butter sauce: heated butter, fresh sage, and chopped spinach. It was really tasty.

We put the dumplings in the boiling water and cooked until they floated. After a test, we noticed they weren't totally cooked, so we let them float in the water for a while to ensure they were cooked through.

In the end, we had a nice facsimile of the the original stuffed gnocchi. There were some small problems, but I think they could be remedied through practice.

Notes and Next Time

• The gnocchi was uneven around the stuffing; we need to find a way to better close the pouches. The potato was a little overwhelming, hiding the flavor of the filling. I think upping the intensity of the filling would also help.
  
• The stuffing was kind of loose, but needed to be thicker. I think if we add shredded mozzarella or parm to the stuffing to help solidify it some. Also, less egg. And if all else fails, some flour or corn starch.
• I would have preferred a sauce with more sauce; the butter tasted good, but there wasn't much 'dressing' for the gnocchi. Maybe a cream sauce would work nicely. Also, I think adding some mushroom would be a nice thing.
  
• Coloring one of the components would make the dish more visually interesting would be good. Spinach, squash/pumpkin, tomato, etc, would be fun to try; depending on the season, you could definitely play with the color combo to reflect the time.
• These would be a fun dinner party food. They're kind of time consuming to make, but with a good color contrast, they are a fun food, with a fun surprise in the middle.
  

Ingredients/Recipe

• Standard Gnocchi recipe
• Ricotta
• Parmigiana cheese
• Egg
• Whole nutmeg
  
• Parsley
• Butter
• Sage
• Spinach
• s&p

Spiedini [Grilled Lamb]

In my mother's family's village in Italy, they make these things called spiduchi: in the rest if Italy, they call them spiedini. Spiedini is the generic term for small pieces of meat cooked on a grill. Spiduchi are small chunks of lamb, salted, and grilled. They are usually made for feasts and other special occasions; they might be one the best things ever.

We ended up buying a 7# leg of lamb, using the special spiedini cutter to skewer and cut it up, salted it, then grilled it for about 5 minutes over hot coals.

Spiedini are possibly the easiest thing to make (it helps that my aunt and uncle have the special spiedini maker to make the skewering and cutting easy), and super tasty. We probably made about 150-175 skewers, and between the 9 of us, they were being eaten as soon as they came off the grill.

Notes and Next Time

• We don't have the special spiedini maker - it's 1400 miles away - and I'm not sure I want to go through all the skewering and cutting without it. I'm not sure next time will be anytime soon.
• There's really no way to improve on spiduchi. Except to be sure to soak the skewers so they don't burn over the fire.
  

Ingredients/Recipe

• Lamb
• Salt
• Grill
  

Enchiladas

Mmmm, enchiladas! I started making these way back in my post-college vegan/vegetarian days and have just kept messing with the recipe ever since. My current take on them involves chicken and green sauce, but they've included tofu, black beans, pork, turkey, various veggies and various sauces over the years.

I start out by sauteing an onion and some peppers until the wilt a bit. I like to use a combination of peppers including red, green, pasillas, and anaheims if I can get them. Canned green peppers will work in a pinch. Then I add the chicken. This time around I marinated the chicken for a while in a mixture of cayenne, paprika, salt, and crushed garlic for extra flavor. I nestle the breasts on top of the onion mixture, add about a half cup of water, and put the lid on the skillet, turned down to low. This way the chicken cooks slowly and seems to be less dry. Once the chicken is just barely cooked through (the whole dish will bake in the oven, so no need for it to be completely done), I pull it from the heat and take the breasts out to cool slightly on a cutting board. Then I shred them using a pair of forks (although I'm sure cutting them in chunks works fine too). So now, we're basically done. The shredded chicken goes back into the pan and mixed with the onions/peppers. Taste the mix for seasoning (salt, pepper, spices) and we're reading for putting it all together!

A while back I discovered the layered enchilada. So much easier than the rolled version, although not quite as pretty. So, to put my enchiladas together, I start with a big baking pan and spray it with cooking spray. Next goes a spoonful of enchilada sauce (I like the canned green one right now). Then a layer of tortillas. On top a layer of the chicken mixture and some cheese (whatever you like, cheddar, jalapeno jack, queso blanco etc). Then a few spoonfuls of enchilada sauce and start the layering over. I rip up tortillas to make an even layer is necessary (just like with lasagna). The top should be tortilla with a generous amount of sauce (so the top layers don't dry out) and topped with cheese to brown.

Bake at 350 until bubbly, brown, and the center is hot. Anywhere from 20-40 minutes depending on the number of layers and size of the pan! Tasty topped with lime, cilantro and served with spanish rice and/or beans.


Notes and Next Time

• it's nice to add mushrooms, corn, black olives, or beans to the filling mix.
• tempeh might be nice too

Ingredients/Recipe

• chicken (maybe 2-3 breasts for 2 pans)
• onion
• peppers (green, red, etc)
• garlic
• spices
• enchilada sauce (at least 2 15 oz cans)
• cheese
  
• garnishes