Gnocchi in tomato broth, plus a peasant loaf

I've made gnocchi a few times and each time I remember how easy and how initially time-consuming it is. But one of things I appreciate most about making it is its make-ahead factor. Once you make those little pillows, you can freeze them and have them ready to go for whatever accompaniment you pair them with.

I've always used the Smitten Kitchen recipe for gnocchi. In the cookbook it is coupled with a recipe for tomato broth. I had leftover canned tomatoes from my tomato sauce and basil from the pasta and pizza earlier this week, and leftover vegetable broth from the tomato soup from last Sunday. That worked out well.

Gnocchi is really not difficult to make. It takes just four ingredients: potatoes, egg, flour and salt. You just need to factor in a good couple of hours, though most of it not hands-on. You bake 2 pounds of potatoes. That's an hour. Then you let them cool for about 10 minutes. Then peel them and push them through a box grater (or a ricer, if you've got one). Then let them cool for another 10 minutes before adding the egg, a teaspoon of salt, and then 1 1/2 cups or so of flour - just enough to form a workable dough. Then you divide the dough into as many chunks as you want and roll them into 3/4 inch ropes and cut them into gnocchi bits. You can make them ridged, which I have usually gone to great effort to do with a floured fork in the past, but this time I took a tip from Deb and decided it wasn't all that important. I stuck them in the freezer so I could boil them in more of an on-demand style after tonight's first dish.

For the peasant loaf, I revisited my Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day method and made a mix of white, wheat and rye flours. I'll admit, I'm already thinking how good this leftover bread will taste after it's been panini-pressed with some smoked cheese and peppers - maybe some bacon, too. Today's my last day on the veggie train so I'll be rethinking my ingredients, in both directions.

I've been really encouraged by how much I didn't miss meat this past week. And also by how small my grocery bill was when meat was not on it. It gave me more room to purchase the fancier ingredients I'd normally make substitutes for. Most of all,  I loved having a list of new recipes to try all week long. I now have a nice set of meals to return to when I want to forgo the meat but don't feel like eating pasta, which is what I so often do.

As you can tell, the Sprouted Kitchen and Smitten Kitchen were my main sources of inspiration this week. I highly recommend both of their cookbooks to anyone who enjoys eating well - and maybe being a little adventurous - without having to use pretentious or hard-to-find ingredients.

To all vegetarians out there: respect.