Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Gnocchi with Pancetta, Mushrooms, and Gruyere

Main Dishes

Apolinaras and I finally checked out Foundry on Elm, a newish hot spot in our neighborhood, on one of our recent date nights. It was packed on the Tuesday evening we went and we could see why after we tried the creative cocktails. Mine was called the Bee’s Knees and was a mix of gin, lemon, and honey syrup – yum! Most of the food was pretty tasty as well, and I especially savored every bite of the spaetzle, which was mixed with ham, exotic mushrooms, hazelnuts, and aged Comté. I actually wanted to recreate this dish at home and couldn’t believe it when Deb from Smitten Kitchen posted about how to make spaetzle the very next day!

Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten around to trying the recipe yet, but I did take inspiration from our meal and used some gnocchi from Trader Joe’s to whip up this super quick weeknight dinner. I mixed the gnocchi with pancetta, mushrooms, garlic, gruyere, and walnuts. This came together in just 20 minutes and we really enjoyed it. In fact, we had a little scuffle over who got the leftovers the next day for lunch!

Gnocchi with Pancetta, Mushrooms, and Gruyere
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 17.6-ounce package whole wheat potato gnocchi from Trader Joe’s
1 4-ounce package pancetta
16 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup freshly grated gruyere cheese
1 cup toasted chopped walnuts
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Prepare gnocchi according to package directions and drain.

Place pancetta in a large nonstick skillet and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes or until browned. Place pancetta in a small bowl and add mushrooms to the pan; sauté 5 to 7 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute. Add mushrooms to the bowl with the pancetta. Place olive oil and butter in the skillet and sauté gnocchi for 3 minutes. Mix in pancetta and mushrooms, gruyere cheese, walnuts, and salt and stir until cheese is melted. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 728 calories, 44.2g fat, 4.6g fiber, 25.3g protein per serving
Cost: $2.73 per serving

Gruyere Risotto with Asparagus and Mushrooms

I apologize if you had trouble with my blog earlier this week. I tried to upgrade my WordPress account and the theme completely crashed – ugh. Luckily, my better half is a computer whiz and very supportive of my blogging. He stayed up until 5am – yes, 5am – to fix it...

Plantain Crusted Chicken

Nope, this isn’t a recipe for chicken parm, although that’s what you’d think if you just saw the picture, but it was inspired by this Italian favorite. My hubby loves my chicken parm and loudly proclaims to anyone that will listen that he can never order it in a...

Light Pesto Lasagna with Chicken and Spinach

After college graduation, I backpacked through Europe with my friend Britt. One of the highlights of our trip was hiking through the olive orchards and vineyards of the Cinque Terre, a gorgeous section of cliffs in the Italian Riveria. My favorite meal there was an...

Salmon over Coconut Broth with Baby Bok Choy, Snow Peas, and Mushrooms

I have to admit that even though I consider myself a “foodie,” sometimes hearing about the local/organic food debate tires me out. Ideally, we’d all get all our food from farmers in our state who use no pesticides, right? But it’s not really economical for most people...

Spinach, Bacon, and Blue Cheese Stuffed Pecan Crusted Chicken Breasts

I’m often asked how I manage to post original recipes so often while working long hours and hitting the gym the majority of the days of the week. Well, what I usually do is work in bursts. I may perfect three or four recipes in one weekend and then take a break. I...

Champagne Salmon with Swiss Chard Quinoa

I was super excited when my good friend Eva asked if we would like to use her family’s farm share while they visit her parents in Austria for the next few weeks. Eva is inspirational because she works full time as a pulmonary pediatrician and is raising the two...

Plantain Gnocchi/Koldunai Stuffed with Cheddar Cheese

So I finally got around to making plantain gnocchi again, but was so tired that I didn’t even make a sauce to go with them and just ended up topping them with some fresh tomatoes. They were still delicious though, mainly because they were stuffed with chunks of...

Thai Shrimp Green Curry

Happy New Year! Can you believe it’s already 2011? I smile every time I think about 2010 because we made it a great year. The highlight was our big vacation when Apolinaras and I visited his home country of Lithuania over our anniversary. On the career front,...