Potato Gnocchi

2 cups cooked potato (sweet or russet), mashed up

2 cups flour

Herbs, like basil or oregano if desired

1-2 eggs, beaten

Combine all ingredients and mix

Roll dough into snakes and cut into small pieces 

Poach gnocchi in salted water for about 2 minutes until they float to the top

Strain and toss in olive oil so they won't stick together. 

Serve hot with your favorite sauce. 

Basil pesto

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup pine nuts

2/3 cup extra virgin live oil

1/2 cup pecorino cheese (I use Parmesan since it's in my fridge anyway)

1. combine basil, garlic, and pine nuts in blender and pulse until coarsely chopped
2. add 1/2 cup of oil and blend till smooth
3. if serving immediately, stir in additional oil and cheese now
4. to store, drizzle remaining oil on top. Stir in the cheese after thawing

Chimichurri Couscous Stir Fry

Cook couscous according to directions (make sure to brown before adding water).

Roughly chop and stir fry vegetables.

Boil shrimp till just pink, let chill in ice bath, then strain for 2 minutes. 

Make chimichurri sauce (I used 1/8 cup of a premade spice mix from HEB, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, and 1/2 cup olive oil).

Mix everything together and serve either hot or chilled.

Italian Wedding Cookies

Ingredients:

 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
 3/4 teaspoon salt
 1 1/2 cups finely ground almonds
 4 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used 3 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of almond)
 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for rolling

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Cream butter or margarine in a bowl, gradually add confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Add almonds and vanilla. Blend in flour gradually and mix well.
• Shape into balls (or crescents) using about 1 teaspoon for each cookie. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, and bake for 15-20 min. Do not brown. 
• Cool slightly, then roll in the extra confectioners' sugar.

Apple Dessert Flowers

Preheat oven to 350

Slice apples (using a mandolin works best)

Microwave apples in water for 1 minute at a time until they are soft enough to roll (I microwaved for about 4 minutes)

Roll out pie crust and then lay apples on top of the pie crust.

Dust cinnamon sugar on top of the apples.

Roll the apples and pie crust up to look like flowers.

Drizzle sweetened condensed milk and cinnamon sugar on top of the flowers (can also use red jam to accentuate the red color of the apples).

Bake for 20 minutes.

Mozzarella Chicken

Pound out chicken thighs to make them thin
Season one side with salt, pepper, and oregano
Add smoked ham to cover the chicken thighs
Add one slice of mozzarella and roll the chicken

Beat one egg and add some milk to make the egg wash.

Put some breadcrumbs on one plate and flour on another.

Take chicken rolls and dip in flour and then egg wash, then coat in breadcrumbs.

Coat pan with olive oil and brown both sides of the chicken roll.

Bake at 320 for 20 minutes.

Serve with salad and marinara sauce.