Class-ic

Tues., Oct. 6, 2009

My comfort food is, and always has been, macaroni and cheese. When I was younger it had to be Kraft in the blue box, preferably with a hotdog cut into little rounds and put in it. Nowadays I don't eat Kraft much anymore, but I have a lot of fun making better versions of my favorite food! I've already posted once about making plain ol' pasta and cheese with ham and broccoli, which is admittedly something I'm almost too good at throwing together on a night when I'm stressed and too busy to be cooking in the next couple days and I want something easy and happy to eat. The steps to making it are so easy and ritualistic that even though it takes a little longer than Kraft, I'm happy to spend the time making a roux, toasting it, adding milk and stirring stirring stirring as I add cheese and spice to taste; boiling or defrosting broccoli is a no brainer, as is cutting up some bites of ham. The maybe twenty minutes it takes to make mac and cheese from scratch gives me a very welcome time to decompress from the day and get ready for dinner and a relatively quieter night.

Admittedly, if I had to map what my general diet is, it's probably something like CARBS DAIRY FRUIT AND VEGGIES OTHER STUFF, so even when I feel like making something "real" the focus is usually pretty skewed in favor to rice/pasta/stuffing/mashed potatoes, something crunchy, and sauce... meat tends to be an afterthought. All this is a long way of talking about what I made tonight! Something very different than what I've ever made before... but not really:

Here we have a bowl of potato gnocchi and sautéed baby bella mushrooms in a creamy tomato sauce, topped with a garnish of parsely and roasted sweet potato fries. I'm fairly sure this is the best ever. I'm also fairly sure I say that every day, but that's just because I always know pretty much exactly what I want before I go about making it, so it's always super satisfying. Anyhow, let me tell you how to make this (super inauthentic) sauce because it is amazing:

• Make a very little bit of roux with EVOO and flour, probably only a couple teaspoons at most.
• Add a smidge of milk, enough to cover the bottom of the pan plus a few milimeters more.
• Add about 1oz of extra sharp cheddar(!) and whisk well.
• Add maybe three heaping scoops of ricotta, or enough to make the loose bechamel you have creamy.
• After heating this thoroughly, finally add about 1/2C of plain tomato sauce.
• Of course, salt/pepper/season to taste.

It's creamy without being a cream sauce, and it has a very nice lightness and sweetness because of the tomato. Plus! Look at that pretty color! In this dish, a little goes a long way, as I find that the strong flavor of the earthy mushrooms and the interesting chewiness of the gnocchi can be drowned out with too much "stuff" all over them. I tossed the fully cooked gnocchi in with the mushrooms after draining them in order to make sure they were plenty dry, then plated (bowled) the mixture and added only a couple good scoops of sauce (I have some left over in a little container in the fridge for who-knows-what!). For a really delicious, filling dinner, this is hard to beat. Gnocchi will definitely be on the menu again soon!