Creamy Gnochetti

As I may have mentioned somewhere, when I’m stressed, like many people, I like to eat… but I also like to cook.  Not just because I can then eat, but because a lot of my stress comes from my inner control freak… losing control.  Yeah… in many ways, not just the obvious and bad ones, but you know, a lot of life just isn’t in your control.  Cooking soothes that because not only do you get to control the seasonings, and how things taste, but much like a math equation, you know exactly what the result will be.  You know that if you add A + B + C properly, you are going to get D for Delicious. 

So, during my super stressful week, I chose to whip up a quick dinner for my boyfriend and his father.  I chose to make one thing I have made and can make fairly easily- Parmesan crusted pork chops (being in a frugal state of mind currently, I picked up a big family pack of pork something or other, don’t know if they qualify for chops, at $1.59/lb., four really huge slabs of pork with bones through them- some through the center), – and then two sort of new things. 

During our weekend in PA, which I mentioned in my last post about cream puffs, Bailey’s Irish Cream, and GO BIG BLUE the Giants beating the Packers, our generous and kind hostess also made us dinner.  Alongside a myriad of delicious dishes, she made fresh biscuits.  IF YOU KNOW ME… I don’t do baking, dough, batter, anything of that sort.  But it looked so easy!  So simple!  So I decided to try it. 

Because it was from a box.

And I still messed it up!  I used Bisquick and followed the instructions, but instead of scooping it by the spoonful into cats’ head biscuits, I pressed it into a baking sheet and used a pizza cutter to score it into about 12 square pieces.  I sprinkled Parmesan cheese (to tie all the dishes together) on top and baked.  They came out alright but really flat, not thick enough to cut and butter as PopPop wanted to, so these were not a hit.  BF didn’t like them either.  Ah well, you win some, you lose some; it’s a sign to stick to cooking and leave the baking to… other people.  Haha.

But the last dish, the one that gives this post its title: the creamy gnochetti.  I found a random box of pasta that was hanging out in the pantry, and though each one looked like a pill bug stretched out and honestly gave me the willies, I decided to use them.  I’m not going to give a real recipe because, well, I didn’t like the dish that much, but I did convince PopPop (who doesn’t eat anything green) to try it, and he liked it even with the peas.  Enough to eat the small portion I’d given him; not enough to eat more, though.  (Then again, the pork chops were HUGE.)

1 lb. pasta
Garlic, a couple of cloves, chopped
Onion, chopped
1 package frozen peas
Cream
Freshly grated Parmesan

Cook pasta to al dente.  Reserve some cooking liquid.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil.  Add chopped garlic and onions (I used red, but you can use any you like) and cook until soft.  Add peas. 

Add pasta along with cream and grated cheese.  Stir to combine; add cooking liquid as necessary to achieve a creamy consistency.  Serve with extra cheese to taste. 

I think I added too little cheese; grating that much cheese hurts my arms, so I gave up after a while and just added what I had.  Hahaha… so my laziness kind of “ruined” the dish.  Ah well!!!

Enjoy!!!