Gnocchi in brown butter with spinach and walnuts.

 

We're big fans of gnocchi in my household.  Problem is that we don't have a good source of fresh gnocchi like we did at Eataly when we lived in L.A.  You'd think as the 4th largest city in the country we'd have one, but no such luck.

These aren't scratch made gnocchi.  Its a vacuum sealed pasta from Target, the DeLallo brand.  They are decent gnocchi, not gummy or dense and worked well with this recipe.  

Gnocchi in Brown Butter with Spinach and Walnuts

Ingredients

• 1 lb favorite ready to use Gnocchi
• 1 lb spinach
• 1/2 c butter
• 1/2 c chopped walnuts
• 1/4 c minced sweet onion
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 t ground nutmeg

Prepare Gnocchi according to package instructions.

Place butter in a large skillet.  Over medium heat stir butter while it browns to a deep golden color.  When it stopped foaming add walnuts and onion.  Stir and cook until onion is transparent (2-3 minutes)/

Add Gnocchi to skillet and toss to coat evenly with butter mixture.  Add spinach.  Salt and Pepper to taste along with the nutmeg.  Cover for 4-5 minutes until spinach is starting to wilt.  Remove lid and toss with the gnocchi until spinach is evenly distributed.

Serve warm with a slice of garlic bread om the side and a nice Italian white like a pinot grigio that will cut through the rich brown butter sauce.  a few scrapes of fresh parmesan off the grater would be a nice touch too. 

Butterscotch Toffee Blondies

 My wife is barely a dessert person let alone a sweets person.  One bit and she exclaimed "THESE MUST BE IN THE ROTATION",  What's not to like, buttery rich blondie with butterscotch and toffee bits to liven up the flavor and texture?   So here they are immortalized in bytes in the interwebs.  

Butterscotch Toffee Blondies

Ingredients:

• 1c Room temperature butter
• 1 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/4 t salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 t vanilla
• 2 1/4 c flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 c butterscotch chips
• 3/4 c toffee chips

·         Preheat oven to 350f.  Line 9X13 baking dish with parchment paper or heavily butter pan.

Cream butter with brown sugar and vanilla well until smooth and fluffy.   Add eggs one at a time, beating well to incorporate.

Mix flour and baking powder together and whisk until combined.  Gradually add dry to wet ingredients and mix until a soft dough forms.

Fold in butterscotch chips and toffee chips.

Spread dough into the prepared pan. 

Bake 25-30 minutes or until top is golden and a toothpick in center comes out nearly clean.

Cool completely before slicing into bars.