Meatless Monday - Potato Garlic Gnocchi

Gnocchi - first of all, it is not pronounced "gah-nok-chi", or any variation of that.  The only somewhat accurate, but easier way of saying it is "naw-kee", but if you really want to get it right try "nyawk-kee"

Well, now that we've got that sorted out...what IS gnocchi?  It's more than one of those things you see on the menu at Italian restaurants and think "ummmm...I have no idea what that is...so, I'll just have the chicken fingers".

It's basically little potato and flour dumplings, though they can be made with many different kinds of veggies instead of potatoes.  I've made them with squash, and also with spinach - perhaps I will make one of these variations to use as a future recipe.  But, for today, we're going with a basic potato gnocchi, with a bit of garlic thrown in there for interest.  See, not scary at all.  Really quite simple, actually...as you will see below!

Here it is, folks:

GNOCCHI:

Ingredients:

3 or 4 regular sized potatoes - I like yellow, but any kind will do.

1 or 2 cloves of garlic

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

2 cups of all purpose flour (I normally would do 1 cup each of whole wheat all purpose, but I was out of ww, so this is what I did)

Directions:

1) Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks.  Steam the potatoes until soft (approx 25 min)

2) Mash the potatoes until smooth.

3) Mix in the garlic, salt and egg.

4) Mix in the flour a little at a time until you have soft dough (imagine pizza dough). Use more or less flour as needed.

5) Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. While you wait for the water, make the gnocchi. On a floured surface, roll the dough out in several long snakes, and cut into 1-inch sections. Gently roll each section with a fork (the grooves help the sauce stick better).  Drop the pieces into the boiling water, and allow them to cook until they float to the surface.  This will only take about 2 minutes!   Only do as much of the batch as will fit nicely in the pot, leaving room for the pieces to float up.  Remove the floating pieces with a slotted spoon, and keep warm in a serving dish.  Then repeat the process for the next batch.  Serve with sauce (below).

SAUCE:

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

1/2 onion

1 zucchini, chopped

4 or 5 mushrooms, sliced

1 C chick peas

1 jar of tomato sauce

a splash of soya sauce

a squeeze of BBQ sauce

chopped fresh herbs (I like basil and oregano...dry will work great too!)...to taste

Directions:

1) Heat the oil in a frying pan (medium heat).

2) Saute the onion until it starts to get soft.  Add the zucchini and mushrooms.  Cook until they start to soften up.

3) Add the chick peas; tomato, soya and BBQ sauces; and the herbs.  Turn the heat to medium-low, and cook until the sauce is warmed through.  *Optional - if you let it simmer for 10 min or so, on low, the flavours will blend more, but the zucchini will be very soft.

4) Serve over gnocchi (or whatever kind of pasta, really).  Top with grated Parmesan (optional).

ENJOY!  If you try this, leave a comment below to let me know how it goes!