vegetables without even trying

Last month one of those stupid girly magazines that i feel the need to buy had some diet tricks in it.  Most of them are things you've either heard before or would never do, but there was one that stuck in my head and that i actually ripped out and hung on the fridge - fill half of your plate with veggies.

Its a great idea, really.  Veggies are good for you.  and they have less calories than most other food.  double bonus.  so any time we cook now, we think about this - how much of our plate will be vegetables?  If it isnt enough we automatically add a salad in to the meal.

So, why am i telling you this?  mostly cause its backstory...

Front-story...  so winter CSA is always interesting.  I'm actually liking this year a lot - the assortment of stuff we've been getting has been pretty kitchen-hell friendly and we've come up with some great recipes to use stuff like the heirloom tomato puree.  Sure, there's still stuff that we forget about and bury in the back of the fridge until something starts to smell but baby-steps, ok?  

so anyway, last month we got some carrots.  something like 4 lbs of carrots.  add that to the pound or so that we still had in the fridge from the month before and we were pretty much overrun...  given that we're mostly green vegetable eaters, we just dont always think of the carrots but they're a stupid thing to waste and so i made it a mission to find some carrot recipes.  So a couple of weeks back, i stumbled across My Culinary Sanctuary - Sarah Nett and found a recipe for roasted carrot gnocchi.  sounded interesting - sounded different - and certainly would use some carrots.  score.

Since sundays are pasta night around here, the meat eater suggested we do the gnocchis this weekend (yes, technically not pasta...  get over it)...  After i spent most of the day breaking and fixing my brand new bike, we were finally ready to tackle them.  only i kept wondering what vegetable we should make to have on the side.  and then realizing how completely idiotic that statement was, only to forget and wonder about it again 15 minutes later.  

stupid glamour article!

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Roasted Carrot Gnocchi
Adapted by me from Sarah Nett

Note:  you're going to have doubts while making this.  we did.  right up until the part where we roll the gnocchi out and cut them up and realized we had about 32 pieces.  Which isnt a ton but is enough for a light dinner for two if served with enough bread, wine and maybe a salad - you know, to make sure you get more veggies...

3/4 pound carrots, peeled and chopped into pieces

1- 2 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons butter, divided in half
2-3 tablespoons onion, minced

5 tablespoons flour + a bit more on reserve
1 egg
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese + a bit more on reserve
Pinch of nutmeg

Pinch of salt
Fresh black pepper

Preheat oven to 400.

Spread carrots over a cookie sheet and lightly coat them with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired.  Roast at 400 until carrots are soft and caramelized (about 30 - 40 minutes).  Set aside to cool.

While carrots are roasting,  put 2 tablespoons of the butter and all the chopped onion in a medium skillet and turn on the heat to medium. Saute onion about 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in remaining butter.  Set aside.

At this point, put a large pot of salted water on the stove and turn on high.  (this is how you'll cook the gnocchi)

Once carrots and onions/butter are both ready and cool enough to handle, place all into a food processor and puree.

Remove carrot/onion mixture from food processor and place in a bowl.

Mix in flour, egg, parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

It should now be a wet dough.  If you cannot pick it up and make a ball, add more flour and more parmesan, in equal parts, 1/2 tablespoon each at a time. (note: we added one more tablespoon each of flour and parmesan at this point)

Remove from the bowl and place it onto a floured surface.  (If you live in an apartment with a tiny coutertop, you may need to split the dough into 1/2s or 1/3rds at this point)

Roll dough out into long tubes, about 3/4 of an inch thick.  Using a floured butter knife, cut into pieces, about 1 inch long each.  Either roll under a fork to get the typical gnocchi markings or just push your index finger in to make a little divot.  (The ridges are only there to hold sauce and a finger divot works just fine...)

Once you have cut all of your gnocchi, carefully drop into boiling water. When they float to the top, time for one minute longer and then remove with a slotted spoon.  (we did this in batches as our pan is small)

Top with a light tomato sauce (though i think brown butter and sage would ROCK on these as well) and more parmesan, if desired, and serve with crusty baguette.