Sausage, Butternut & Gnocchi

I'm not sure where this idea came from, but it's a keeper. (And easy!)

Peel, cube and steam (until fork-tender) about half a butternut squash.

Meanwhile, crumble and fry about a pound of spicy italian sausage with half an onion, diced.

When the sausage is browned, remove it from the skillet and drain on paper towels.

Peel and thickly-slice 2 cloves garlic.

Boil water and prepare gnocchi according to package directions.

Heat remaining grease from sausage, add garlic and steamed squash cubes. Cook on medium-high until squash is lightly browned and/or begins to get squashy (er, squishy). Add back in the sausage and salt to taste.

Stir together gnocchi with sausage/squash and enjoy!!

Autumn Soup

Ack, it seems we missed October! Who's in charge around here anyways? Though to be honest this soup was made in October, it just took me until today to be avoiding work so hardcore that I'm posting something. I didn't actually make this, I just invented it and typed up the "recipe" and Carter made it and then I adjusted it (like I do) and we ate it. And it was awesome. Truly, truly awesome. It could easily be vegetarian if you leave out the sausage (but if you aren't sausage-averse keep it in!!). Here's how it goes:

ingredients:

3 largish potatoes, chopped (peeled if you want)

1 bunch leeks, light parts sliced (dark green parts not needed)

1 celeriac bulb, peeled and chopped

3 or 4 carrots, chopped

8+ cloves garlic

1 qt (or more) stock (chicken/turkey/pork/veggie)

chicken bouillon cube or salt

a few heavy shakes of marjoram

3 bay leaves

much black pepper

1 c. half and half (or less cream)

8in section of kielbasa or andoiulle sausage

do this:

Roast garlic, then peel them and leave whole.

In a large pot, saute leeks until they're starting to brown, then add everything but garlic and saute for a few more minutes.

Add garlic, spices, stock and then 4 or 5 cups of water until the pot is at least about half full. Simmer for 1-2 hours. When it's cooked, rescue the bay leaves and puree about half of the soup in the blender. Add cream, adjust seasonings, remove from heat.

Meanwhile: broil, grill, or otherwise cook your sausage. Cut into bite-size pieces and toss into the soup just before serving. Garnish with parsley and eat with rustic bread.

No cHard Feelings

No pictures today because I'm tired of arguing with my (5 year-old) camera about its flash settings and what to focus on. I was potentially going to buy a super-spiffy and cheap Canon s3is from a friend of mine, but someone else got it first....drat! Meanwhile, I made a super-delicious pasta primvera-esque dinner tonight, complete with rainbow chard from the farm my sister works on! (It's not too hot to grow greens in the summer in NY state!) But it's not actually springtime, so I dub this:

Pasta Verano (Italian/Spanish meld-phrase!)

Pasta:
1/2 lb. pasta (I used fettuccine)
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

Veg:
2 T. mixture of canola and olive oils
1/2 onion, sliced
1 summer squash/zucchini, sliced
1 small bunch chard (rainbow or otherwise), ribbed and chopped (reserve greens separately from ribs)
1 handful fresh basil leaves, snipped
1 gorgeous tomato, chopped
2 large gloves garlic, minced
red chili flakes to taste

Saute onions, squash and chard ribs over medium-low heat until almost tender, 5-8 minutes. Add chard greens, basil, tomato, garlic and chili flakes and cover. Cook for 2-4 minutes or until greens are wilted.

CONCURRENTLY:
Make pasta. When it's cooked drain but DO NOT RINSE. Return to pot and crack an egg over it. Stir vigorously for about 75 seconds. The egg will get frothy and then creamy-- it should not turn into little scrambled egg bits. Salt and pepper generously.

Combine veg and pasta and serve hot.

The egg-in-pasta idea came from two sources, one: Make do and make it good and the other: What Geeks Eat.

Rainbow chard in its farm life:

(photo copyright Christina Schubert, 2009)

Butternutty Bisque

We had a butternut and some cream... and Epicurious decided that I should make this:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Butternut-Squash-and-Roasted-Garlic-Bisque-104280

They were so right. My alterations:

• Our butternut was probably only about 3 lbs, so
  
• I only roasted one bulb of garlic. And we didn't have any foil so I just put it in an oiled casserole dish with a lid-- it worked great.
  
• I baked the butternut (in the oven with the garlic) instead of peeling and boiling it, then just scooped it out of the skin to blend with the other ingredients.
• I used homemade chicken stock instead of canned, naturally.
  
• Instead of fresh thyme I used 2 tsp dried, and
• added a tsp or two of cayenne for kick.

Some of the reviewers on Epicurious mentioned that the soup doesn't need the cream, and they're right. I had one bowl of it cream-less right after I made it, but then added it to the leftovers because it needed to get used. Either way, it's delicious! Fairly easy too; the oven does most of the work.

P.S. I swear all of the post titles won't have "nutty" in them. But I couldn't resist this one...