Gnocchi with “Raid Your Fridge” Tomato Sauce

| By: Jenna Schissler|

This dish is great because it can be as elaborate or as simple as you want it to be. All the ingredients are pantry staples and the recipe is nearly impossible to mess up. Gnocchi is a great food to make if you want to start learning about handmade pasta. This dish is very filling while also being inexpensive.

Ingredients

Yield: 2 servings

Prep time: 15 minutes to make the dough, 10 minutes if you cut the gnocchi, 45 minutes if you roll the gnocchi

Cooking time: 2-3 minutes for the gnocchi itself, 10 minutes for the sauce

For the gnocchi:

• Salt

• 2-3 potatoes (you need 1 cup of mashed potatoes)

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour

• 1 egg

For the sauce:

• Cooking oil

• 2 slices of leftover meatloaf

• 2 cup of tomato sauce from a jar

• Dried minced garlic to taste

• Dried minced onion to taste

• 2 servings of the vegetable of your choice (I used roasted lemon broccoli)

Cooking Instructions

1. Peel then cut the potatoes into uniform size chunks.

2. Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender in heavily salted water.

3. Drain the potatoes and mash them.

4. In a separate bowl, add the egg and flour. Measure out 1 cup of mashed potato and incorporate into the flour and egg.

5. The dough should be firm. If there is not enough moisture to incorporate all the flour, add some of the water you used to boil the potatoes teaspoon by teaspoon. *It is best if the dough is firm. If it is too sticky it will be a pain to roll*

6. Roll the dough into a snake about 1.5 cm in diameter.

7. If you do not want to roll them, use a knife to cut the gnocchi into squares.

8. If want to roll them, use the back of a fork *** please see “tips for rolling” at the bottom of this post ***

9. Once you are about halfway done rolling the dough, boil a pot of salted water. It should be as salty as the ocean.

10. Boil the gnocchi in batches. When they float to the top, they are cooked.

11. Serve with your favorite pasta sauce.

12. Crumple the meatloaf into a pan with a little bit of oil.

13. Let the meatloaf brown and become crisp.

14. Add a cup of tomato sauce diluted with a little bit of water. We want the sauce to be a little bit liquidy so there is time for everything to stew together without the sauce becoming too thick.

15. Add in the dried garlic and onion.

16. Add in any veggies you have. If they are raw, let them simmer in the sauce for a while. I used lemon roasted broccoli, so all I had to do was warm it through.

17. Add the gnocchi and let it warm through.

Notes

• Pros of rolling the gnocchi: The ridges help the sauce stick to the gnocchi; It looks impressive

• Con of rolling the gnocchi: The time commitment

Tips for rolling the gnocchi:

• The firmer the dough, the easier it will be to roll.

• There should be enough moisture to incorporate all the flour.

• If you do not want your counter floury, you should use a sheet pan to contain all the flour and lay the rolled gnocchi on it.

• Periodically dust the fork in flour so the dough does not stick.

• Roll the ball of dough on the fork as though you are trying to firmly brush something off with your thumb.

• This step is great for family bonding. Get your loved ones in the kitchen to help roll the gnocchi.