Sunday, September 15, 2019

Winner, Winner Sunday Dinner

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Today's recipe comes courtesy of our friend Celia Wakefield, who made this dinner for Youngest's last night home before toodling off to college. There's no name for it; perhaps you all can come up with something? Here's the deets:
 
 
1. Skin 3 tomatoes or use a cup of canned tomatoes. drained.
 
 
2. In a large pan, heat 2-3 T olive oil and add 1 large onion, finely chopped; 2 leeks washed and chopped. You can add other late summer vegetables, whatever you have from the farmers market.
 
 
3. Remove the kernels from 3 ears of cooked corn, add to pan once the leeks and onions are translucent. add more olive oil if necessary
 
 
 
4. Bag of gnocchi: follow instructions for cooking and put water on to heat.
 
 
5. Skin and chop the tomatoes, add to pan with veggies.
 
 
6. Seasonings: Roasted garlic, basil or oregano,  parsley, salt and pepper.
 
 
7. Grate a cup + of cheese; parmesan, cheddar, Manchiago, etc.
 
 
8. Cook the gnocchi; if the veggie sauce looks dry, add a half cup or more of the pasta water when the gnocchi is done.
 
 
9. Add the pasta to the sauce. Sprinkle with the cheese, reserving some for your guests to add. 
 






23 comments:

  1. Celia’s pasta dish [sorry, I can’t think of a better name for it] sounds yummy . . . thanks for sharing. There’s still plenty of basil and parsley in the herb garden; we’ll have to try this.

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  2. Sounds amazing! How about Gnocchi with Garden's Bounty Sauce?

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  3. This looked delicious. Anyone out three make their own gnocchi? I've tried with, um, chewy results.

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    1. I've made pasta before, but not gnocchi.

      I made this after church today . . . . Along with the onion and leeks, I added some Italian frying peppers and some sweet peppers from the garden. It was definitely yummy.

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  4. Wow Annette, sounds like a very upmarket name, thank you.

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  5. I'll settle for calling it yummy!

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  6. When was Celia ever in my childhood home? This is called MORE! Mom would make it, or a version, about once a week when we're really young and stretching a dollar was an absolute necessary. Because we are carnivores, we would brown ground beef before adding the vegetables and and pasta, which was normally elbow macaroni. We also used less cheese, saved it for the end. Save the leftovers. Next day warm it up, add another vegetable, maybe some canned olives and then you have MORE for another meal.

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  7. That looks delish, Julia and Celia! I wonder how this would work with cauliflower gnocci? I have some in my freezer that I keep meaning to use. We still have loads of basil, parsley, and oregano in the garden. I may have to make this this week. Love anything with leeks, by the way!

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    1. Debs, u haven’t had the chance to tell you how much I am reveling in your books. Julia lent me a few, I got into my online library for some more and have even bought some. Totally in love. Wish you would come and visit us up here. Perhaps if I start going to some mystery cons I’ll meet you and gush again. But to your question, yes, yes go for it. I’ll get your mail from Julia and send the cheese sauce recipe along.

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    2. Thank you, Celia! So glad you're enjoying the books! And I hope you make it to a conference soon--I'd love to meet you. Maybe Julia can convince you to come to Bouchercon!

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  8. Deana, I just love your reminisce and the recipe. I think your mom mst have been ahead of her time. What I love about today’s food is everyone trying things for themselves. There are so many fab food blogs, book, sites out there and I use a very, very few as the base idea. One I particularly love is Food 52. Perhaps Jungle Reds need to cooperate with some foodie writers.

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  9. Delicious! Thank you, Julia and Celia!

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  10. Yum! There is nothing like fresh ingredients to make a dish its best. I'll be remembering that when I serve husband and me a frozen entrée tonight. Hahaha!

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  11. Jealous of those with gardens! Maybe next spring I'll just plant crops in my flower beds.

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  12. When I studied in Italy, back in the dark ages, Signora Zannoni, the widow with whom a bunch of us boarded, introduced me to gnocchi. You couldn't buy it here in those days, so I learned to make it. Not as good as hers, of course, but passable. She was Florentine, so tomato sauce was rare-- the gnocchi were in a cheese sauce, and wonderful. And chewy. My Italian wasn't very good that first summer, and her English was non-existent, so there were a lot of hand signals going on, but I still think back fondly on things that she made that one never sees in stores or restaurants.

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    1. Wish I'd been a fly on the wall... I can make pasta but not gnocchi. I'll have to try again.

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    2. Imagine the culture shock of coming to the table to find a plate of ravioli gnudi, glistening in a delicate cheese and spinach sauce, when you thought ravioli were those gummy pillows in flavorless red sauce that came out of a Chef Boyardee can. Imagine that your parents thought they'd sent you to a Hollywood version of Naples, and couldn't understand why anyone would want to go to Italy, presumably still war-torn, but you had babysat every night (bless the Barnard babysitting service) for a year, run the dorm switchboard on Saturdays, and the manual elevator during the school's seventy fifth anniversary celebration, to earn the money, so they couldn't stop you. And then imagine that you had no idea, yourself, what Florence would be like-- and then there it was in all its glory! I can't really duplicate the flavor of that trip, but I do try!

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    3. Fun just to read your description, Ellen!

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