1294. GNOCCHI with BACON and PEAS CREAM SAUCE

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium sized onion red or yellow
4 cloves garlic
3 strips of bacon
¼ cup chicken stock
½ cup heavy cream
1 cup of frozen peas
1-pound gnocchi
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Salt & pepper to taste

Peel and slice the onion into rings and separate them. Mince the garlic and cut the bacon lengthwise and then into 1-½ strips. Thaw the peas anyway you like and grate the Parmesan.

Start by heating up a large pot of water for cooking the gnocchi. You don’t want the sauce ready and have to wait for the gnocchi to cook although they don’t take but 2 minutes to cook.

Heat your sauté pan over medium-high heat to get it hot. Add the oil and butter to the pan and when the butter is melted and hot, add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and continue sautéing for another minute.

Add the bacon and cook for 3 – 4 minutes until the bacon doesn’t have that white fatty look any more. You don’t want the bacon crisp, just cook through. The down side of using bacon over Pancetta is the bacon takes longer to cook but if that’s what you have available, what the heck.

Add the chicken stock to deglaze the pan, stirring up any of the bacon bits that may be sticking to the pan. Add the cream and then the peas. Simmer for 3 – 4 minutes and you will notice the sauce start to thicken.

Right after you add the cream you want to start cooking the gnocchi. They only take 2 –3 minutes to cook but by the time you cook and drain them the sauce will be finished. You will know when the gnocchi are done because they float to the top of the water. The trick to preparing any pasta dish with a great sauce is getting the timing down so everything is done at the same time.

Add the drained gnocchi to the sauce along with the Parmesan cheese and nutmeg. Give it a gentle stir and cook to warm up and incorporate the sauce with the gnocchi.

Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.


courtesy of: Reluctant Gourmet