Gnocchi in Broccoli and Spinach Sauce

My initial experience with frozen gnocchi was great. It was used in roasted red bell pepper sauce and the result was delicious. The frozen version yielded almost the same soft and comforting bite like the fresh made version. So I bought the product again and this time used in broccoli and spinach sauce.

Gnocchi in broccoli and spinach sauce - 

Ingredients (about 3 portions)?

• 400 grams gnocchi
• 1 small broccoli 
• 1 tightly packed cup spinach
• 2 pieces anchovies
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 chunk aged Parmigiano Reggiano
• 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon caper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• Some extra virgin olive oil
• Some salt

How?

Trim the broccoli stem and remove the fibrous part. Cut the trimmed stem to smaller chunks, break the florets to smaller pieces too. Aim for using the leafy part for the spinach only, I actually used the stem for other stir-fry dishes. If you can find baby spinach in a pack that's even better.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add in the broccoli stem first. Cook for one minute then add in the florets, cook for another minute. Add in the spinach in the end and quickly cook for 10 seconds or so, just enough time till the leaves wilted. Drain but not like over-drain it, we need some moisture there still. Transfer to food processor.

Also add to the food processor, aged Parmigiano Reggiano that's been cut into smaller chunks. I used about a total of two little finger sized of Parmigiano Reggiano. I didn't weigh the cheese but a bit more or less shouldn't be an issue.

On top of cheese, also add zest of one lemon, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of capers, 2 pieces of anchovies, 1 peeled garlic clove, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Blend till smooth.

Add some water if the sauce appears too dry. Also if you prefer a more "saucy" consistency in the end, use 5 tablespoons of olive oil here instead of 4.

Pour the sauce to a pan and use medium heat to warm it up. 

When the sauce comes to a light bubbling stage, add in cooked or defrosted gnocchi. Toss till incorporated with the sauce. Taste and adjust with additional seasonings or olive oil if needed.

Plate and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over. Also grate some more aged Parmigiano Reggiano on top.

The sauce can be made ahead of time and store in the fridge waiting for assembling, I suppose within two days should be fine.

If you have frozen gnocchi on hand, great! If not, it's even better with freshly made version. Just need to precook the fresh gnocchi then drain before mixing with the sauce here.

Also it doesn't have to be gnocchi, any other type of short pasta like penne or even orecchiette should match just as good.

Extended reading:

• Seafood gnocchi in roasted red bell pepper sauce

Mahi Mahi and Julienned Veggies In Sweet and Savory Japanese Sauce

Soy sauce and mirin usually goes hand in hand in Japanese seasonings. Most likely you'll see sake in the bunch too. So take that as the base, and to add more depth of flavors, I used both the black vinegar and rice vinegar, also sugar and some finely chopped ginger. 

Turned out the sauce worked really well with mahi mahi, I suppose it'll taste just as good if you want to change the protein to chicken or pork slices.

Mahi mahi and julienned veggies in sweet and savory Japanese sauce - 

Ingredients?

• 300 grams boneless mahi mahi
• 80 grams enoki mushroom
• 1/3 medium carrot
• 1/4 small onion
• 1 small bundle cilantro
• Some corn starch
• Some olive oil
• Some salt

Sauce:

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon black vinegar
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons drinkable water
• 1 teaspoon scrapped and finely chopped ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

How?

Slice the mahi mahi to thicker pieces, similar to the size shown in my pictures. Season both sides of the fish with some salt. Have a plate filled with some corn starch and dip the fish with it. Tap and shake away excess corn starch, then set the fish aside for few minutes before actually cooking it, that way the corn starch can really settle/cling onto the fish.

Mix all the ingredients listed under the "sauce" section in a bowl.

Peel and thinly slice the onion. Peel and julienne the carrot. Trim-off the bottom of the enoki mushroom, separate the strings and cut in half if the length appears to long. Chop the cilantro.

Have a pan ready and drizzle about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Switch to medium heat and wait till the oil gets warm. Add in mahi mahi and sear till the bottom turns golden. Flip and sear the other side till golden too.

Carefully scoop out the seared fish pieces and set aside for later use.

Drizzle more oil if there's not enough to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Still using medium heat, add in onion slices, carrot strips, and enoki mushroom. Give it a quick stir-fry. I prefer to cook till the carrot has been softened. 

Pour in the sauce mixture. Cook till reduce a bit. Use higher heat if needed.

Add the fish back and gently mix together with the sauce. Further reduce a little.

Plate and garnish with chopped cilantro.

I was very happy with the choice of fish here. Mahi mahi has a moderately firm texture that can withstand longer cooking and stronger sauce used. Also the corn starch coating further absorbed some sauce, making the fish much more flavorful in the end.

The sauce was also good with rice. Even Mister who's usually not a fan of vinegar-added dishes really enjoyed this one.  

Other recipes using mahi mahi:

• Oven-baked mahi tikka - also a great option for tortillas
• Spicy mahi mahi with Asian seasonings 麻辣鬼頭刀魚塊
• Pan-fried mahi mahi with Chinese basil 鹽酥鬼頭刀魚頭肉