Saturday, January 22, 2011

Chicken Sausage with Sweet Fennel and Gnocchi in a Blushing Cream Sauce

So I guess I'll post recipes on here when I can't find them online. That's what blogs are for right? ;-) This one is from Rachael Ray's 2, 4, 6, 8, Great Meals for Couples or Crowds.

Chicken Sausage with Fennel and Gnocchi in a Cream Sauce
Serves 6, but me and the parents definitely demolished most of it for dinner

Salt
3 tbsp. olive oil
8 precooked chicken sausages, sliced (the original suggests an Italian inspired flavor, I used our fav chicken and apple variety and it worked out great)
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced
2 tbsp tomato paste (the kind in a squeeze tube that can be refrigerated)
3/4 cup of white wine (I used chardonnay)
2 pounds gnocchi (potato dumplings, found in the Italian or refrigerated or frozen section)
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 oz. cream cheese, cut into small pieces
1 cup fresh parsley leaves (4 generous handfuls) (I used dried, and not nearly that much)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, plus some for the table

Set a large pot of water to boil for the gnocchi and add some salt. The gnocchi will only need about 5 minutes to cook, so wait to put it in.

Heat the oil in a very large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the sausages, then add the onions, garlic, and fennel (plus salt and pepper to taste) and cook for about 5 minutes. Then scoot everything to the sides of the pan and add the tomato paste to the middle and spread it around a little and let it cook for like a minute, then add the wine and cook for another minute, scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the good stuff off the bottom.

Put the gnocchi in the pot and cook until they float, about 5-6 minutes (or according to package instructions.)Add the chicken stock to the pan and bring it to a simmer. Add the cream cheese and stir, simmer a couple minutes to thicken it. (It took a couple minutes for the cheese to break down.) Drain the gnocchi and add it to the skillet along with the parsley and Parmesan and stir it all together! So good!

3 comments: