Mushroom and Gnocchi

Italian inspired mushroom medley with an olive oil/garlic based sauce.

Ingredients
Crimini mushrooms, sliced
Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
White button mushrooms, sliced
Gnocchi
5 Cloves of garlic, sliced
Olive Oil
Oregano
Red pepper flakes

Boil water in pot with 1 tsp of olive oil and a dash of salt. After water boils place gnocchi in pot until floats. When ready, drain. In the meantime, take a pan and sauté the mushrooms with 1 Tbsp of oil. Add a dash of red pepper flakes and salt. Turn down heat. Separately, for the 'sauce' you'll need to place 3 Tsp of oil with the sliced garlic. Cook until garlic turns a bit brown. Add about and additional 1/4 cup of oil. Cook until hot.

Place gnocchi on plate top with mushroom sauté pouring olive oil sauce to taste including a few garlic pieces.

Creamy Gnocchi with Spinach and Peas

Don't try this at home if you're vegan. At least not yet. This recipe is vegetarian but uses a lot of dairy. I will have to report back on the vegan version, that I haven't made yet. For now, I'm posting this recipe variation that I tried from Epicurious.com. The original recipe was too bland for me, so I decided to change it a little.

Ingredients:
1 cup frozen peas, not thawed
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tsp of dried red-pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves smashed
3 cups packed baby spinach (3 oz)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tsp of lemon juice
1 pound of dried gnocchi
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan

Simmer peas with cream, red-pepper flakes, garlic, and 1/4 tsp salt in a 12-inch skillet or pan. Be sure to use smashed garlic. Peel and use the side of a large knife. Use your right hand to press down on the flat part of the knife. This will 'smash' the garlic. Simmer for about 5 minutes covered or until peas have soften.

Add spinach and cook over medium-low heat, uncovered, stirring until spinach has wilted. Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and juice. I used a vegetable peeler for the zest by peeling the skin off of the lemon. I then chopped the peel into bits.

Meanwhile, cook gnocchi in a pot with 3 Tbs of salt per 6 quarts of water until the gnocchi floats to the top. Reserve about 1/2 cup pasta water, then drain gnocchi.

Add gnocchi to sauce with cheese and the pasta water. Stir. Add salt, pepper, and possibly more Parmesan cheese to taste. So good!