The Desolate Pantry

Ahhh...Monday's...don't you just love em'.  I sure do when I come home to left over gnocchi in the freezer and a can of San Marzano tomatoes, a can of tomato paste and a can of crushed tomato.  The possibilities are endless...actually there is only one thing that comes to my mind with this combination...red sauce!!!

Thank goodness for left overs because that is what this meal was mostly made up of.  Here is what you need:
Gnocchi
garlic
red or white wine
olive oil
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of San Marzano tomatoes
1 can of crushed tomato
onions (optional)
Olive bread (optional, but highly recommended)
I tend to always have the canned tomatoes above on hand for just such an occasion.  It is a great fall back to just have in the cupboard....many times I get down to that is all I have in the cupboard and I never go hungry so you get my point.
Get a pot and add a glob of olive oil and heat that on high on the stove.  chop your onions and garlic.  First add the onions and saute them until clear then add the garlic.  Give that a good stir around and add a dollop of tomato paste, about half to 3/4 of the can.  Stir that in until if becomes fragrant and then add a healthy amount of your wine, say about 1/4 - 1/2 cup...just make sure there is enough for drinking afterwards :-)
mix all that in to where it is combined nicely and then add in your cans of San Marzano and crushed tomato.  I seasoned mine with some dried basil...totally your call but it does give a hint of flavour that is subtle yet savory.  Once that begins to boil, turn the heat down to low and let simmer for at least 45 min to an hour.  At that point boil your water for the gnocchi and get that going.  Once the gnocchi pops to the top of the boiling water strain and set aside.

In the pot you boiled the gnocchi in, add about 2 tablespoons of the sauce.  Then toss in your gnocchi and stir it around getting each little dumpling covered in sauce.
Cut nice thick slices of Olive bread and get your plate.  Pour the gnocchi onto the plate and then top with as much sauce as you wish.  Sprinkle with parmesan and let that bread soak up the sauce.  This is a divine meal that makes Mondays worth going through....almost makes me wish everyday was Monday.
To make this red sauce less thick, use diced tomatoes instead of the San Marzano or in addition to all of this..it will dilute the sauce a bit making it more liquiddy, this was a very thick sauce, you could also just add more wine...now there is nothing wrong with that!


Cheers!