Spinach Gnocchi and Zucchini Coins with Marinara and Parmesan

With the final week of school upon our campus, everyone's been busy with term papers, final exams, and last ditch efforts to achieve a decent grade in their classes. With the stress of this upcoming week I have not had the energy to cook, but I've been craving a really yummy, filling, healthy meal. I found these recipes on two food blogs that I read regularly, and have been anxiously awaiting my free Saturday to actually make them!

And overwhelmingly these recipes were the perfect choice for a snowy December night! The Spinach Gnocchi were deliciously hearty and very simple to make! I adapted a few parts of the recipe. I replaced freshly grated parmesan with grated parmesan from the store, and freshly made bread crumbs for the store-bought kind. The fresh ingredients might make it taste better (even though the store-bought kind worked perfectly fine), but since college is such an unpredictable time, having too many fresh foods in my refrigerator leads to rotten food and wasted money. Here is the recipe:

Spinach Gnocchi
recipe found at: The Comfort of Cooking

Makes about 10 -12 gnocchi Ingredients 10 ounces fresh spinach 1/3 cup flour 1 egg, beaten lightly 1/4 teaspoon sea salt a few grindings of pepper 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese 1/2 cup freshly grated bread crumbs Directions Thoroughly wash the fresh spinach and place in a steamer basket. Steam until wilted. Remove and place in clean towels and wring out as much liquid as you can. Chop finely. Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Shape the mixture into balls and place on a cookie sheet or any prep pan. The mixture will be very wet. Flour your hands or roll the gnocchi in a little flour to shape them into balls a little smaller than the size of a walnut. At this point, you can put them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them later. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. With a slotted spoon or a handled strainer, place a few gnocchi at a time in the simmering water and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove with the slotted spoon to a serving dish and keep warm by tenting with a piece of foil. Repeat with remaining gnocchi. You can dress these gnocchi with just some olive oil, sea salt and some more grated cheese. This is my favorite way to eat them

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Review for this recipe: The ingredients from this recipe cost a total of $8.01 (but, remember that some of these ingredients were not completely used up with this recipe. The flour, bread crumbs, and parmesan cheese all have plenty leftover for many other meals! Plus, this recipe made enough for two people and leftovers)! Adam and I enjoyed these a lot, and will definitely make them again :) Next time we won't cook all of them together. We each had four or five gnocchis and we had about 6 or 7 leftover. Unfortunately, we cooked all of them, and I'm not sure how good they will be re-heated in a microwave. So, in the future we won't cook all of them, and instead put the extra uncooked gnocchis in the refrigerator and cook them the next day!

We also had Zucchini Coins with Marinara and Parmesan on the side. This recipe was super fast, easy, and delicious! I replaced the shredded parmesan cheese with grated and the italian style bread crumbs with plain. Here is the recipe:

Zucchini Coins with Marinara and Parmesan
Recipe found at: For the Love of Cooking

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 2 zucchini, sliced into thick slices
• Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
• Marinara
• Parmesan cheese, shredded
• Italian seasoned panko crumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil then coat with cooking spray.

Slice the zucchini into thick slices. Toss the zucchini coins with a drizzle of olive oil, sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste, until evenly coated. Place the coins on the baking sheet then spoon a bit of marinara on top, followed by Parmesan cheese, and a bit of panko crumbs. Place into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or when the zucchini is just tender and the panko is golden brown. Serve immediately. Enjoy

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Review for this recipe: The total cost of this recipe, eliminating the ingredients that were used in the Spinach Gnocchi, was $4.45 (And we had enough for the two of us to have 4 pieces each, and we have six pieces leftover)! This recipe was a hit with us in a myriad of ways! First, the ingredients are things we always have in our kitchen, so it doesn't require an extra trip to the grocery store (we love this!). Second, the recipe is so inexpensive because most of the ingredients come from larger containers and can be used in many other recipes. Third, it took literally 5 minutes to make and 15 minutes to cook! Finally, it was delicious :) It tasted just like pizza! This was a hit and we will be enjoying it a lot in the future! As for reheating tomorrow, I'm going to try and reheat them in the oven so they don't get mushy.

Overall our dinner cost $6.23 a person, with leftovers to enjoy tomorrow! This meal took a total of 60 minutes to make (with time to finish reading a chapter for my Foods and Nutrition class). The heartiness of this meal is perfect; I only had four gnocchi and four zucchini coins and I was full! It was a perfect warm meal on a snowy December Saturday.

Hope you enjoy these recipes and be sure to check out their creators at For the Love of Cooking and The Comfort of Cooking. And continue to check back here, at Culinary Pursuits on a College Campus!

Welcome to Culinary Pursuits on a College Campus

I've been wanting to start a cooking blog for awhile - basically ever since I saw Julie & Julia in theater. But, I never knew what to talk about, what my niche would be! It finally came to me as I was searching the blogosphere for food blogs - cooking for college students. Because, let's face it, college cooking can be an oxymoron in itself! With dining courts, late-night delivery, and fast food restaurants at our disposal who would want to cook. And with our busy schedules there generally isn't time to eat, let alone cook, and it can be difficult for most college students to find the time to cook healthy and delicious meals. There's a reason for the freshman 15 (and I was a victim of this myself).

But, I'm here to show that it can be done, and it can be done without breaking the bank! You might be sitting there right now saying, Liz, you're full of it! There is no way I can cook healthy food with my crazy schedule and not run out of money before midterms roll around! And, in the past I probably would have agreed with you, but I've learned a few new tricks and realized...it can be done! And that's what I hope to show you throughout the life of this blog.

I'm not claiming to be an expert by any means, but I'm volunteering to do the research and the legwork, and just present you with my findings! I'm going to be scouring cooking magazines, food blogs, recipe websites, and watching the Food Network to find some delicious tasting, healthy recipes. I will take the recipes I find and modify them if necessary to make it healthier or quicker! I am excited to start this new adventure!

I'm going to present you with recipes for main dishes, side dishes, desserts, appetizers, and everything in between! And, I'm going to be totally honest about everything, including how much the meal cost me, how it tasted, how long it took me to cook, and if I would make it again. I also want to include special posts about other things that revolve around college cooking, including ways to get around using expensive cooking equipment (because I don't own a dutch oven, a complete set of pots and pans, or a blender cover - that's right I have a blender, but no cover, it's forced me to be creative), leftover ideas, and tips for ways to stay healthy during the school year.

To end this post, I'm going to leave you with a recipe I made last night. I do not have pictures because I currently do not have a camera (I lost my power plug and my tech-savvy boyfriend has yet to help me find a new one!) and Adam's camera was forgotten at his parent's house over Thanksgiving break. So, bear with me for now - I promise that my posts will include lots of pictures!

Vegetable Tian
adapted from Ina Garten's recipe

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 2 large white onions, cut in half and sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound medium round potatoes, unpeeled
• 3/4 pound zucchini
• 1 1/4 pounds medium tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, plus extra sprigs
• 2 ounces fat-free Mozzarella cheese, grated

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.


Spray a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish with Pam. In a medium saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.


Slice the potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes in 1/4-inch thick slices. Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly, making only 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme leaves, and thyme sprigs and drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of olive oil. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Uncover the dish, remove the thyme sprigs, sprinkle the cheese on top, and bake for another 30 minutes until browned. Serve warm.



Photo of Ina's Tian, courtesy of The Food Network Website

I know you might be saying didn't she just say the recipes would be quick! And I would say, you're right, but...this recipe really didn't take that long work wise. So, the chopping of the vegetables and sauteeing of the onions took about 20 minutes, the other prep work (foiling, removing foil, adding cheese, etc.) took another 7 minutes, that's less than 30 minutes! It cooks for awhile, but you just stick it in the oven and go do homework, stalk Facebook, or do whatever else you want! See, it really doesn't take that much time out of your productivity!

For the review: this recipe cost a total of $15.67 which comes to a total of $7.84 a person (if you are cooking for only 2 people, less if cooking for more!) Now, you might say - I can get a foot long sub from Subway for $5. True, but this dish lasted Adam and I two meals each, yesterday and today. We had it on the side of pasta, but it's hearty enough to have on its own. My reaction to the dish: I didn't like it very much, but Adam loved it! I switched out Gruyere cheese from the original recipe because I couldn't find it at the store. This may have made a difference, and I would definitely be willing to try it again with the right cheese!

So, I hope you will continue to follow this blog, find some new recipes, and learn a thing or two :)