Last week, on a quest to re-ignite my inner chef extraordinaire, I decided to try a recipe for homemade Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage . It was a little daunting because the last time I ventured into the world of homemade pasta, it was a disastrous experience. Seven years prior, Alan and I were having friends over for dinner. I decided I wanted to WOW! them with an impressive menu of homemade ravioli but bit off more than I could chew. There were a few tears shed but a few lessons learned too…
Lesson 1: Always, give new recipes a try first before attempting to have it headline a dinner party. This was the first time I had ever attempted making this recipe and the first time I had ever attempted to make homemade pasta.
Lesson 2: When making fresh pasta, be sure to separate and layer pieces between wax paper. Making them the night before and throwing them all together in a bowl makes for one big, clumpy mess!
Lesson 3: When in doubt, eat it anyways and laugh it off with a good glass of wine in hand.
The dinner party was a fun night, regardless of the plate of pasty-pasta disaster. But homemade pasta making was not something I wanted to try again anytime soon! So, 7 years have passed and with this year’s resolution to break free from my culinary rut, I decided to give it another go.
While, yes, a tad time consuming, the recipe was fairly easy to make. Just roast the squash, garlic and potato; mix together in a food processor; shape dough into several long rope-like strands, cut and boil. Oh ya, then toss gently in butter and sage. Y-U-M-mmmm! The results were fantastic! I conquered the homemade pasta dough and will not be waiting another 7 years to make it again.
Recipe: Winter Squash Gnocchi with Brown Butter Sage, from Food & Wine
Enjoyed with: Puro (malbec, syrah and cabernet blend), from Argentina
Foodie Fridays is a weekly blog series from Michelle Pitman, attempting to remove the stigma and the labeling of food that tastes good as being bad for you; to show how supportive choices can incorporate all categories of food and that balanced eating means you are satisfying your physical needs as well as the emotional ones. Bon Appetit!!
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