On the Table: Creamy Tomato Gnocchi

In the midst of party planning here again, so I was keen to make something that wasn't too involved or time consuming. I had some gnocchi in the cupboard, but the site of the jars of pasta sauce was about as interesting as licking the gardening fork after a morning session of digging (although if you were my one year old, then the appeal levels go right up when it comes to consuming dirt and sand!!!). Slight dilemma. So off I went further rummaging through the pantry.

Ahhh yes. A can of Campbell's Tomato soup. MUCH better. Enter two carrots, a bunch of tiny broccoli florets, and a dash of cream and this is what I came up with.

Creamy Tomato Gnocchi. Yummm. It was such a hit with the family I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

{Make It!}

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Ingredients:

1 package of Golden Pasta Gnocchi Baby

1 tin of Campbell's Tomato Soup

2 Medium carrots - peeled , quartered and sliced

1 cup of broccoli florets - cut up small

Enough water to ½ fill the soup tin

Dash of cream (up to a scant ⅛ cup)

Parmesan and parsley to garnish.

1. To a pan of salted boiling water, add the carrot and broccoli.

2. Wait till the water comes back to the boil and add the gnocchi. Continue to heat till the water returns to the boil, and the gnocchi rises to the top.

3. Add tin of tomato soup to a separate pan, enough water to ½ fill the the tomato soup tin, and a dash of cream (add to your taste). Stir till it thickens and changes colour (It will get a more translucent look and you will know that the soup is ‘cooked’).

4. When the gnocchi starts to sink again, remove from heat and drain. Add the sauce and stir through.

5. Serve gnocchi with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan and garnish with parsley.

Bon Appetit!

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What's Cooking Love?

Mini Cafe-Style Muffin Wrappers

It's taken me a few days to get to this one from the sea of fever ridden brows that have been in my home for the past 2 weeks, but I've finally done it! Yippee!!! I give you (drum roll please)...

It really is so very simple to do. Take one roll of baking paper, either scissors or a roller cutter, a small cup (mine was the one that came with the children's Panadol), and a small dose of common sense. ;)

 1. Cut your baking paper to size. My Baking paper was 30cm across, so I made mine 15 x 15cm to fit my tin with about a 5.5cm overlap of the edge of the hole all the way around. (I figured it out by the diameter of the hole + depth + however much I wanted it to sit above the pans edge).

2. Find a cup of some sort that fits your muffin pan in both depth and shape (Thank you Panadol - you're terrific!)

3. Lay the paper centered over one of the holes in your muffin pan. Press down firmly. At this point it will only really shape the bottom rim of the paper well. On to the last step!

4. Press the folds in around the cup that started to form when you pushed it into the pan. Repeat as many times as needed. Genius!!!

Now all you need is something to fill them! Get your quick and easy quiche recipe here.

Enjoy,

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Button Sized Impossible Quiche

I love Quiche. I love it hot. I love it cold (on a hot day anyway!). I love it with either salad or veggies. So it was a no-brainer that I would make individual quiche for Baby Starfish's birthday celebrations... but with a twist. I wanted teeny tiny ones. One of my beautiful friends Margaret loaned me the BEST EVER sized mini muffin pans, but I don't know about you, I hate trying to dig things out of any pan - even when they are greased - so I decided that they would need a liner - preferable cafe style (I'll be back with a how-to for that one later. Edit: Here's the tutorial).

They were delish. They were better than delish. They were scrummy (does anyone else besides me use that word? You know, scrumptious and yummy smooshed together?)! Aaaannnnndddd... they were gluten free and dairy free! (My brother reacts to both, so I like to cook things that he can eat).

So you know you want to make some now, don't you. Pick up the printable version of the recipe using the link or read on for more info.

Button Sized Impossible Quiche

Gluten and Dairy Free options listed

  

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Ingredients:

3 - 4 Eggs (depending on the egg size)

½ Cup Self Raising Flour (I used gluten free)

¼ Cup Melted Butter or Margarine (I used Nutalex)

1 ½ cups milk (I used Lite So Good, a soy milk)

The fun stuff:

This can be varied, depending on the flavour you are hungering for.

½ Cup of small, diced Pumpkin. Sauteed.

½ Cup of finely chopped Spanish Olives

1 Onion, finely diced and sauteed.

8 or more semi-sun dried Tomato halves, diced.

A little olive oil to saute with.

1. Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius.

2. Prepare mini muffin pans (or whatever you are using).

3. Prepare the fun stuff. I sauteed the onion, and the pumpkin (separately) in about 1 tsp of Olive Oil and set them aside.

4. Mix the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl (I was lazy and used my Kenwood Chef)

5. Add the fun stuff.

6. Bake at 150 deg C for about 10 minutes, or until golden looking and springs back to the touch. Let cool in pan.

Serve these on a plate for a party or pop some in your kid's lunch box's - you'll be one popular Mum!
Happy Baking!

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Cute as a Button Party: Part 1

So I'm finally taking the time to sort through all the photos from Baby Starfish's Cute as a Button Party.
I first hit the idea of a button party for him simply because right from when he was born, he was dubbed button, and his older brothers took the name and ran with it - so to speak.

Here are a few shots from the day...

Button Party Table

Button Birthday Cake

 Button Candle + Button Sized Patties

Button Biscuits

Cafe Style Button Sized Quiche

Button Tags for Drinks

Piles of Chocolate buttons... Mmmm!

Hope you enjoyed the little peek - There are more tutorials and recipes coming!
Also Coming Soon - Cute as a Button Party: Part 2

Till then...