Hello Rootabaga Subscribers,
Welcome back to another exciting week of late spring Nova Scotian produce! I hope nobody is getting sick of asparagus yet, it’s much too early for me to have lost excitement over one of the season’s tastiest vegetables. This week I tried asparagus in a new gnocchi recipe with a creamy white wine sauce. It was quite easy to make and really delicious. I’ll be trying the same recipe with other summer veggies as they come into season, like peas, string beans, or broccoli. Also in the bags this week we have beautiful bunches of chives from Snowy River, and fresh arugula from Elmridge. In total, the small subscription has:
Beet Greens – Bob Ansem, spray-free
Asparagus – Vermeulen Farm, conventionally-grown
Chives – Snowy River Farm, spray-free
Sweet Potatoes – Elmridge Farm, spray-free
Ambrosia Apples – Noggins Corner Farm, conventionally-grown
Cucumber – Stokdijk Greenhouses, conventionally- grown
Hot House Tomatoes – Stokdijk Greenhouses, conventionally- grown
The large share has everything above, as well as:
1lb hot house tomatoes instead of ½ lb
½ bunch of chives instead of ⅓ bunch
3lb apples instead of 2lb
Arugula – Elmridge Farm, spray-free
For this week’s recipe, we will be using asparagus and chives to make Spring Gnocchi, along with onion, garlic, heavy cream, parmesan cheese, and a generous glug of white wine. Enjoy it as a vegetarian main dish, or serve it with Vessel Meats sausages or make meatballs with Knoydart’s Grass-Fed Ground Beef. The recipe was inspired by this post: https://www.delishknowledge.com/spring-vegetable-gnocchi/ – though substitutions were made for local ingredients and some adjustments were made to portions.
- 1 package gnocchi
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ lb of asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Red pepper flakes - optional
- 1 tablespoon chives, minced
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the gnocchi. Cook according to package directions. Drain and rinse briefly with cool water to stop them from continuing to cook.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat with butter. Once hot, add the finely diced onion. Saute until translucent, then add the garlic and some salt and pepper, fry another minute. Deglaze the pan with a generous glug of white wine (you can omit this step and just go straight to adding cream if you like). Let the wine, onions, and garlic simmer for a couple minutes until the smell of alcohol is burned off.
- Pour in the cream, lemon juice, and asparagus pieces. Let everything simmer on middle to low heat, stirring occasionally until the asparagus is just al dente, about 5 minutes. If the sauce gets too thick, loosen things up with a bit more cream, water, or wine. I found mine needed a dash more cream.
- Add the gnocchi, parmesan cheese, and red pepper flakes if desired. Stir to coat everything in the sauce and cook for another minute or 2 while flavours combine. Remove from heat and serve with fresh chives.
This gnocchi turned out so well! It was a perfect busy night meal in that it came together really quickly and tasted like more effort than it was. The original poster recommended making this dish with fresh peas as well, which would be fabulous once peas come into season. I love having another flexible recipe in my arsenal to try with different vegetables as things come into season.
Something fun you might not know is that chive flowers are edible. So make sure you enjoy them in a salad, pressed into home-made crackers, or chopped and folded into biscuits (they are delicious and beautiful this way).
That’s it for this week folks! Thank you for continuing to support our Rootabaga subscription program. It means so much to us! We are looking forward to seeing you when you pick up your orders.
Until next week,
Robin