Gnocchi Rosa

Remember when I made gnocchi from scratch? I froze half of it to use later. Well, later is now!

This dish is a different take on penne rosa. It has the same basic structure with just a few substitutions.

Notes: The frozen gnocchi worked like a charm. I didn't bother thawing them. They cooked very quickly (not as quickly as fresh, of course), so the hard work of making them from scratch at least gets you a little convenience in the future.

If I had had more time, I would have used a combination of canned tomatoes and herbs to make a fresh tomato sauce, but alas this week was busy. I had a jar of marinara on hand so I just used that. Sometimes you need a little help from the pantry.

I used shitake mushrooms, but you can use your favorite.

This got a big thumbs up from Scott, who has a somewhat less adventurous palate than I do. So if you're looking for dishes to help expand someone's food horizons, give this one a try!

Ingredients:
1 batch frozen (or fresh) gnocchi (see link above for directions)
1 26 oz. jar marinara sauce
1/2 bunch kale leaves, cleaned and de-stemmed
1/2 pound shitake mushrooms
8-10 fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons butter + 2 more for sauteing
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flake
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Put a large stock pot of water on to boil. If you're using frozen gnocchi, take it out of the freezer.

Thinly slice the kale and mushrooms. Chop the basil. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to a skillet and heat on medium-high. When the butter melts, add the mushrooms and kale. Season with salt and pepper and saute until tender.

Move the kale and mushrooms to the sides of the skillet. Add the rest of the butter to the pan. When it melts, add the flour and whisk together. Whisk in the milk and stir everything together. Let the mixture thicken and then add in the marinara sauce and basil. Stir everything together and simmer.

When the water is boiling gently, drop in the gnocchi. When it floats to the top, scoop it out and add it to the sauce. When all the gnocchi is in the sauce, let it warm through for just a minute and then serve.

Enjoy!