Janice's Gnocchi in Cacciatori Sauce

these filling delicious puffy little bundles of potato and flour are wonderfully versatile and an excellent candidate for one of my favorite "comfort foods" so it's a good thing each serving is so low in calorie. Look for white or wheat gnocchi in boxes or tightly sealed plastic containers in the dried pasta section of your store.

The nutrition facts can be found at Calorie Count!

gnocchi

Gnocchi in Cacciatori Sauce

Serves 4 for dinner or 6-8 as a side dish

Ingredients:

1 T pure olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped (or more)
4 garlic cloves, chopped or crushed
30 oz tomatoes*, crushed with your hands cuz it's fun
1/4 C parsley, fresh, torn or chopped
1/4 C basil, fresh, torn
1/8 cup red wine**
1/2 t oregano
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 T pure olive oil
16 oz gnocchi, white or wheat

Ingredient Notes:

*If using canned tomatoes, dump them into a bowl and crush them with your fingers. Do not strain the juices. If you don't have enough canned, just make a mix of fresh and canned tomatoes. You can peel the fresh ones if you like. I don't as I love the peel!

**use up to 1/3 cup of wine. The nutrition facts were set for 1/8 of a cup. Always cook with wine good enough to drink. Use your favorite most flavorful variety.

Sauce Directions:

Heat 1 T pure olive oil in a medium pan. When it is hot and shimmering and add the onions, saute til soft. Add the garlic and saute another minute or so. Add all the ingredients except the gnocchi and the second 1 T olive oil.

Heat to a simmer, partially cover, and stir every now and then. Taste after 10 minutes or so and adjust seasonings. You will notice that I do not add salt. I'm used to that. But you may not be, so add salt if you need to. Also, depending on the tomatoes you use, you may need to add a tablespoon or so of brown sugar to counter the acidity. If the sauce is thin (some tomatoes are super juicy!) add a squish of tomato paste... but not too much.

Once you have the flavors as you prefer, just keep it going on low heat until the gnocchi are done.

Gnocchi Directions:

To make the gnocchi, heat 1 T pure olive oil in a large skillet until shimmering. Add the gnocchi and toss or stir every now and then allowing the little puffy pillows of deliciousness to soften and turn a beautiful brown. Should take about 10 minutes or so depending on your stove. Let them sit every now and then for a minute or two as this encourages browning. Constant stirring prevents browning.

Serving:

Either serve in separate bowls for people to fix on their plates, or arrange the gnocchi on a serving platter and top with sauce. Fresh grated parmigiana is perfect on this. Great with a salad, or make a nice antipasto plate.

Notes:

To turn this into a casserole dish, combine the sauce and gnocchi, place in a pam sprayed casserole, top with a bit of parmigiana or mozzarella and heat in the oven til the cheese browns.