Monday 23 September 2013

Creamy mushroom and spinach gnocchi

Mondays are bad enough. Mondays when you're hungover to the hilt and desperately need sleep are worse. Today is one of those days. Too much merry-making with friends on the weekend has left me bereft of intelligent thought and enthusiasm. Even for cooking. So tonight, the menu is going to be the quickest pasta in the country. Gnocchi. Because you buy it ready-made and those little suckers are cooked and ready to go in less than a minute. Not even sufficient time to refill your wine glass. Not that there will be any wine consumed in Cook Castle tonight, or for the next 50 years.

When is it Friday? 

Serves 4

Ingredients

Large pack of fresh potato gnocchi (I actually buy the one on the supermarket shelf, not from the fridge section, but up to you)
375g mushrooms thinly sliced (get all sorts of different ones, if you're feeling energetic)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Small carton (300ml) pouring cream
Big handful of baby spinach leaves
⅓ cup (or thereabouts) finely grated parmesan cheese

Method

Boil large saucepan of salted water, and when boiling, drop in the gnocchi. When it floats to the top, strain and keep warm.

Cook mushrooms and garlic in heated oiled large frying pan, stirring, until softened. Add cream and spinach; bring to the boil and reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, until spinach wilts and sauce thickens. Stir in half the cheese. Season to taste.

Add gnocchi to pan, stir gently. Serve gnocchi topped with remaining cheese.

Forget about a salad. It's too hard. Just eat in front of Four Corners. Then get some sleep.