I was introduced to Gnocchi in Portland and I have been a fan ever since!  AND IT’S MEATLESS MONDAY!!  Finally, a post that’s the day of the so-called theme LOL.  I had my Sous Chef daughter, Natalie, helping me on this one and she has some killer photo skills :).

Ingredients:

Packaged Gnocchi

1 Cube of Butter

2 T. Olive Oil

1 clove Garlic, smashed and left whole

1/2 c. Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese (high quality kind recommended)

Herbs:  Basil, Sage, Scallions or whatever you like.

I like this brand of Gnocchi because …. HELLO–IT’S MADE IN ITALY :).  I cooked the whole package according to the directions on the box.  It’s very fast to cook!While the gnocchi is cooking, I put a whole cube of salted butter along with a whole clove of garlic that is smashed (not cut up because I just wanted it to have a slight flavor of garlic and didn’t want it to overwhelm the dish) in a stainless-steel pan on medium high heat.  If you put it in a nonstick pan, you won’t be able to see the butter brown, and there will be a chance that you could burn it.  You can probably guess how I learned my lesson from this little tip :).  STIR CONSTANTLY AND BE ATTENTIVE because it can burn easily once it turns.  You’ll know when the butter is close to browning when the butter goes crazy, nuts bubbling and then all of the sudden it calms down and goes brown and has this delicious nutty taste.  Remove from heat and remove garlic clove.

Chop up FRESH herbs like sage, basil, scallions or whatever you like and put them in the browned butter.  It will sizzle a little because it’s still hot off the burner.

Add cooked and drained gnocchi to browned butter and gently stir then add the cheese.  I like steaming some broccoli and adding those to it as well to get our veggies in :).  Now gather that family around and enjoy.