Tuesday 5 May 2009

Out-and-About

P5020109 It’s been a while since I’ve written a post, life has been a bit hectic! Despite the constant bustle, we managed to get out-and-about over the bank holiday weekend - in between the occasional downpours on Saturday and the constant heavy drizzle on Monday.

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Driving home this evening, I started to mentally analyse the contents of the fridge. What needed using up? Various scrummy cheeses, a little bit of gnocchi, some salad and not much else! Remembering an old recipe of a goat’s cheese and spinach gnocchi bake, I tried a slight twist on the recipe (in the absence of any spinach).

Wrapping-up in my long wax jacket and wellies I went out into the the lane in absolutely-bucketing-down-rain and picked some nettles. After washing and blanching the leaves in boiling water I mixed these with the cooked gnocchi and a basic white sauce, with tons of P5050146grated cheese and a little nutmeg added to it. The mixture was split into  individual casserole dishes with a little more grated cheese sprinkled on top along with a few walnut pieces. These dishes were put in a hot oven for 25 mins and then served with a small salad and grilled pesto bread spread with a little wild garlic pesto.

This was good mid-week supper for using up leftovers and free food. However, I would definitely recommend using a strong cheese, like a goat’s cheese or a good blue cheese.

4 comments:

  1. this sounds delicious! I never thought to bake gnocchi like that, but it sounds like such a no-brainer!

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  2. This looks like a really good dish for a damp spring day - warming enough but some in season flavours to remind you of spring.

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  3. LK - delicious and quick!

    goodshoeday - exactly, with the weather behaving like it's autumn (at least it is in Cumbria!) warming food was definitely needed.

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  4. Wow, until I saw everyone posting about nettles, I kinda figured they were my little secret - when I first mentioned them I'd get blank stares and expressions of disbelief that I was eating them. - glad folks know about them as they are so tasty.

    Your dish sounds lovely

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