Brown Butter Gnocchi with Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes

Hello! As most of you might know, I've been away for the last two weeks visiting my parents in Rome. I had a really lovely time and especially enjoyed the fact that the boyfriend (Sam), the lovely flatmate (Laure) and the lovely friend (Anna) were all able to visit as well! Of course, the real highlight is always getting to spend time with the most loving and sweet little mini dachshund. Little Izzy is just the greatest and I'm definitely missing her now that I'm home!

Ingredients

Zucchini ribbons, chopped onion and garlic 

Boiling gnocchi, ready to come out! 

Anyway, on to the food! I have a confession to make... while on holiday, I get very very lazy when it comes to food. Meals are more likely to be made up of bread, cold cuts, cheese and salad than to be something needs actual effort to create. This is particularly true in Italy because, let's be honest, their "cold cuts" are really a cut above the rest (ha). That said, I did take the time to test out this recipe that I found after searching online for "healthy gnocchi dinner" or something like that. This isn't actually that healthy I'm afraid since butter is one of the main ingredients but it's definitely tasty and surprisingly light - perfect for spring or summer! The courgettes are perfect in this and the cherry tomatoes really help to bring that brightness into the dish. I used mini gnocchi because they were too cute to pass up and so I went with 100g per person. That said, when I made this for Anna, Laure, my parents and their friends (7 of us total)... 1000g of gnocchi meant we had TONS of leftovers which made a perfect lunch the next few days.

Zucchini, garlic and onion in the brown butter 

All the ingredients in the pan

Finished product! Delicious!

Recipe via www.eatingwell.com

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Serves: 1

Ingredients: 

2 tbsp butter

1/2 a small onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 large zucchini, stripped

5 cherry tomatoes, halved 

100g gnocchi

30g parmesan cheese, grated 

Method: 

Chop the garlic and onion and set aside while you use a vegetable peeler to cut the zucchini into ribbons. When ready, melt the butter in a pan and let it simmer until it starts to brown over a medium-high heat. Toss in the onion and garlic and let simmer until fragrant before adding the zucchini to soften. Meanwhile, boil water in a pot and add the gnocchi when it has reached a rolling boil. The gnocchi are ready when they float to the top of the pot. While waiting for the gnocchi, add the cherry tomatoes to the pan, cut side down and saute until they start to break down. Finally, add the gnocchi to the other ingredients along with the parmesan cheese and enjoy! 

Leek and Lemon Risotto

On Easter morning, Sam and I wandered over to the Brixton Farmer's Market on the hunt for tasty ingredients for a hopefully spring-like dinner. We thought a risotto would be the perfect mix of spring veggies and filling warmth since "spring" has been mostly freezing so far. The green grocer's stand had some great leeks so we grabbed a few and decided to top our risotto with sausages since they were on sale with three six sausage packages for ten pounds. We went for the honey mustard, italian seasoning and hop flavors. Since we had the honey mustard ones for lunch, those ended up on our risotto later that night.

Some of the ingredients 

Chopped leeks

Rice being added to the leeks 

This is a great recipe from Ina Garden, the Barefoot Contessa. She uses mascapone cheese in her recipe which proved a little too hard to find in our corner shops so we went with herb cream cheese and it was delicious. I'd never added a cheese other than parmesan to risotto before and have to say it definitely improved the creaminess. I generally avoid risotto since it seems like such a pain to have to stay by it, stirring, for half an hour but actually this dish comes together so quickly that I didn't even notice the time. We had to use a wok for our pot since this makes a lot of risotto but it worked out surprisingly well so this is definitely a customizable recipe in all regards. As far as the ingredients, Ina's recipe included asparagus and peas but we skipped them since there weren't any available at the market. You could easily add mushrooms or other veggies that you have on hand. The lemon gives a bit of a kick but it was such a nice fresh flavor that this dish has helped to cement it in my favorites list. 

Finished product

Dished up with some leftover sausage 

Recipe inspired by www.foodnetwork.com

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp butter
3 cups leeks, chopped
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
2/3 cup white wine
4-5 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp lemon zest
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

Method:

In a smaller pot, heat 4-5 cups of chicken stock to simmering. Keep warm for the risotto.

In a separate large pot, add the butter and olive oil and allow to melt. Meanwhile, wash and chop the leeks. When the butter has melted, add the leeks to the pot and cook until softened. When soft, add the rice and stir to ensure all the grains of rice are coated in the oil and butter before adding the white wine. Stir until the wine has been absorbed. Now, adding one ladle at a time and allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next, slowly begin to incorporate the chicken stock into the risotto. As you get to the end of the chicken stock, it will take longer for each ladleful to be absorbed, which is a sign that it is getting close to being ready. Give it a taste to ensure the rice is getting close to al dente without moving into mushiness. When the rice is almost ready, add the lemon zest and season with salt and pepper. In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese with the lemon juice and then add to the risotto, followed by the parmesan cheese. Make sure everything is well mixed and the rice is finished before serving. Top with more parmesan cheese (and sausages if you'd like!) and enjoy!