Gnocchi with Spicy Red Sauce

On St Pete Beach, there is a small Italian restaurant we use to go to when we lived out there that made just awesome gnocchi with a spicy red sauce. We've since moved over to Downtown Tampa and rarely make it back that way, so below you will find our version of it. Also, I must admit we cheated on the hardest part ha ha!! The worst thing about moving away from Atlanta is that they have a Trader Joe's!!! On our visit to Monica's parents house in Milwaukee (another city that has a Trader Joe's) we stocked up and brought back a few packs of their pre-made gnocchi. It's so simple, drop into salted boiling water and few minutes later, you are done! The red sauce is nice and simple and turned out great since we've been blessed with so much basil from our plant this year.

Gnocchi with Spicy Red Sauce

Ingredients

1 package store bought gnocchi (usually found in pasta aisle) prepared according to directions

1 can diced tomatoes (if you can find san marzano get it, you will be pleased!)

1 can tomato sauce

2 tbs tomato paste

2 cloves garlic

1 medium white onion diced

handful of fresh basil

Parmesan Reggiano (to grate over the top, get the good stuff it will make all the difference)

Olive oil to coat bottom of pan

Salt and Pepper to taste

Crushed red pepper flakes - depending on how spicy you like it

1 tbs Italian Seasoning (or 1/2 tsp of oregano, basil, marjoram, parsley, rosemary and thyme)

What we did:

1. Coat bottom of sauce pan with olive oil on medium high heat

2. Add red pepper flakes, onions and minced garlic and stir to coat and cook until onions are translucent - about 3-5 minutes

3. Add the cans of diced tomato and sauce and stir until heated through

4. Add tomato paste, Italian seasoning, salt and black pepper

5. Turn stove down to medium low, cover and cook for 15 minutes

6. At the end, stir in chopped fresh basil (reserve some for serving) and using immersion blender blend sauce to remove any big chunks of tomato (your not making tomato soup so don't over blend!)

7. Take your cooked gnocchi, add to sauce, stir to coat evenly and add more chopped fresh basil and top with grated parmesan!!

WDWD??

2006 Cakebread Rubaiyat: This is just an awesome wine, I know I can't believe we just cracked it open for dinner at home either! A blend 84% Pinot, 15% Zin, and 2% Syrah. We stuck it in the ice box for 15 minutes and served it. If you can find it you must try it! For info on the name and some back story about the wine visit here.

Yuka Fries - as inspired by an eatery at the MIA Airport

I had fried yuka for the first time at the Miami International Airport-- I know its strange -- but there was a great Cuban restaurant in the terminal that my gate agent recommended I try since I had several hours to kill before my flight. As I approached the restaurant, I was surprised to see a very long line-- just shows that the folks in Miami are not looking for that McDonald's burger before their flight! Anyway, there weren't many veggie options -but I tried the Black Bean Soup and their Yuka Fries. The soup was good-- but it was these fries that just blew me away. Something about the flaky texture of the Yuka and the crunch -- I would choose Yuka over a regular french fry any day!

So I came home and raved to Petey about this delicious new discovery. Even though we live in Tampa, which has many Cuban restaurants, I couldn't find this treat anywhere! I could find plantains a plenty...but not yuka fries!

Low and behold, Petey came home from the local Publix one day with a bag of frozen Yuka - for .59 might I add! We followed the instructions to boil the yuka first (very important step that you can not skip) and then fried them. WOW! They were perfect!

Yuka is also really good boiled and mashed-- with a bit of garlic oil and lemon. I have also had yuka that was grilled-- also pretty good -- but I still prefer the fried version!

Yuka Fries with Garlic Dipping Sauce and Mango Relish

Ingredients

1 Package frozen Yuka

Oil to fry

Salt to taste

What we did:

1. Boil Yuka in large pot of water for 25-30 minutes until tender (do not over boil or you will have mashed yuka)

2. Take out the boiled Yuka and let cool on cutting board (30 minutes)

3. Cut into pieces (3/4"-1" fries)

4. Fry until golden brown (we noticed it does take a bit longer but bear with it)

5. Place on paper towel and sprinkle with kosher salt

Garlic Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

5 tablespoons mayo

5 tablespoons sour cream

1 small garlic clove minced

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 shots Tabasco

1 teaspoon lemon juice

What we did:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl, salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate for 20 minutes to let flavors come together.

Mango Relish

Ingredients

2 ripe mangoes

1 Thai chili minced with seeds for heat

1/2 small red onion diced

1/2 cup seeded and diced English cucumber

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Juice of half a lime

What we did:

1. Cut the mango into small pieces (cut around sides of the pit which is in the middle then peel skin, it takes some practice but you will get it!)

2. Add mango and rest of ingredients together in bowl let sit in fridge for 20 minutes

3. when ready to serve add salt to taste

The sweetness of the mango goes really well with the heat of the chili, i think next time we will use a habanero as we are growing our own Thai chillies and habaneros on our huge patio here in downtown Tampa (and by huge i mean 3 feet wide by 7 feet long! ha ha) Check out my peppers!

WDWD?? (what did we drink?)

Corona Extra with Lime!!