Homemade Gnocchi

I do not have a food mill or ricer, so I used my colander and pushed the potatoes through the holes. It was a little time consuming, but I was not going to rush out and buy a ricer just to see if my family likes gnocchi. I may buy one now!

The sauce is a hearty vegetarian sauce with lots of mushrooms.

It was a little messy to make, but worth it.

I served the gnocchi with a fresh baguette that I ordered from Barefoot Bread.

For the gnocchi:

From the Food Network Magazine

• Kosher salt
• 3 large russet potatoes (1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Pour a mound of kosher salt onto a rimmed baking sheet. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork and nestle them in the salt; this prevents the potatoes from browning and draws out their moisture. Bake the potatoes until fork-tender, about 45 minutes. Let sit until just cool enough to handle.

Halve the potatoes lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a potato ricer; discard the skin. Press the flesh through the ricer onto a floured counter or cutting board; let cool 3 to 4 minutes.
Spread out the potatoes slightly. Beat the egg with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl and drizzle over the potatoes.
Sprinkle the potato mixture with 1 cup flour and knead until a smooth dough forms, adding up to 1/2 cup more flour if the dough is sticky. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rest 10 minutes.
Lightly flour your surface. Divide the dough into 6 pieces and roll into "snakes," about 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut into 1/2-to-1-inch lengths with a bench cutter or knife; transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and lightly dust with flour.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi; wait until they float to the surface, then simmer 30 more seconds. (Taste one to make sure it's cooked through.)

For the sauce I used one of Giada's vegetarian bolognese recipe.  You could also do a brown butter and sage sauce with freshly grated parmesan cheese as well. For Giada's recipe, I felt the onion over powered the recipe so next time I will only use a half of an onion. Hubby loves onions so he really liked the sauce the way it was. I did add a can of tomato sauce to tone down the onion flavor for me and I really liked that. I also added a little red chili flakes once I plated mine.

Applesauce cookies with caramel frosting

This recipe was on Pinterest and I took it and changed it a little. They are very moist and the kids had fun frosting them. I am always looking for different cookie recipes since I make cookies a lot. I try to make all of the treats that my family eats since it is better then packaged cookies. I think this recipe is a keeper!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temp.
• 2 cups applesauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 F
• In a large bowl, sift together all of your dry ingredients
• Cream sugar and butter together
• Add eggs and applesauce, mix well
• Add in all dry ingredients and mix until incorporated
• Drop small spoon fulls of batter on greased or lined cookie sheet
• Bake 8-10 minutes

Caramel Frosting:

• 6 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar

In a medium saucepan over medium hear, combine butter, heavy cream and brown sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally until mixture just begins to boil. Remove from hear and stir in the vanilla. Let cool, then stir in the powdered sugar and frost the cookies.