Gnocchi Pomodoro (kind of)

John and I were brainstorming for a last minute dinner recipe the other night and we both landed on pasta. Though at first we agreed, John was feeling a hearty, sausage or meat red sauce while I was envisioning something light, fresh and summery. I found some gnocchi in the pantry and decided I could satisfy both parties with a Gnocchi Pomodoro with Sausage- almost like a deconstructed Bolognese. Though most might be skeptical about the idea of gnocchi from a box, I assure you that there are some great ones out there. (If you're not familiar, gnocchi is a bite-sized, Italian potato dumpling served like a pasta with some sort of sauce.) Delallo's brand Italian foods (pasta, jarred sauce, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, jarred roasted peppers, etc.) can be found in Krogers as well as Sam's Club, perhaps a few other groceries now as well. Believe it or not, Delallo's a family owned deli, bakery and Italian grocery up in Jeannette, Pennsylvania- the town over from Greensburg, PA where my Dad grew up. Second to spending time with my grandparents, a visit to Delallo's is always the highlight of our trip. This place is AMAZING I tell you. Mrs. Delallo is over 90 years old now I believe yet we see her behind the cheese counter every time we visit. They have an olive bar a mile long, every type of cured meat or fresh Italian cheese you can dream of, and a bakery that would make you think you'd died and gone to heaven. (Fresh Italian breads, some stuffed with pepperoni or roasted peppers, fresh filled cannolis, biscotti, and Amaretti cookies. The grocery section is brimming with high quality import items- olive oils, vinegars, jarred and canned vegetables, dried pastas, sardines, anchovies, etc.) Its a little slice of Italian heaven on Earth. I digress.. so the main takeaway here is look for Delallo's on your grocery's shelves- the gnocchi is amazing and could not be simpler to prepare. One box (this recipe) serves three generously, MAYBE four people but barely. The gnocchi cooks up very quickly-so you wait until you have everything else ready before you drop it in to boil it for 3 quick minutes. Stir the gnocchi into the boiling water to ensure the dumplings don't stick together. You MUST avoid overcooking it or it will become mushy. I drained it right away and then tossed back in the pot with a few spoonfulls of the sauce. The sauce that I prepared is a simple Pomodoro made with garden fresh summer tomatoes. I used the first few Roma tomatoes as well as a large handful of grape tomatoes fresh from my very own garden. I added one medium sized Better Boy tomato from my mother's garden as well. Simple Pomodoro Sauce: 3 tablespoons good quality olive oil 1/4 cup of diced onion 2 cloves of garlic, minced or grated 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon died oregano 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar Approx 3 cups of roughly chopped fresh tomatoes of any variety salt and pepper I start the olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. I then sauteed the onion for 2 minutes until barely translucent. I then add rest of the ingredients through the vinegar and cook together, stirring, for 2 more minutes. I then add the tomatoes, season with a pinch of salt and pepper and let cook together over medium heat for 20 minutes or so until the flavors marry together and the sauce reduced slightly.

While the sauce was simmering, I quickly browned half a pound of sweet Italian sausage in skillet- crumbling it into bite sized pieces with the help of a wooden spoon. This is where the "bolognese" twist on the recipe comes in. I like a traditional Bolognese sauce but often times John and I prefer a homemade marinara or tomato sauce with some browned Italian sausage crumbled in instead. So when it was time to serve, I spooned some of the Italian sausage crumbles (drained on a paper towel first) into the bottom of a pasta dish. I then spooned some of the tomato sauce over and topped the sauce with a heap of the perfectly cooked gnocchi. Lastly I sprinkled some fresh parmesan (purchased during my last Delallo's visit) and sliced a few basil leaves over for some added flavor.

For my plate however I omitted the sausage and simply ladled the tomato sauce in the bottom of the dish under my gnocchi which I also dusted with cheese and basil. I think the presentation was fun and a little bit "Top Chef-esque" this way but you could also toss the gnocchi into the sauce before plating if you prefer. This is truly a great staple 30 minute dinner and worked out to be the perfect "his and hers" pasta recipe too.