recipe of the week: gnocchi w/wild mushroom soup

otherwise known as "the ragu that turned into a soup"


perhaps because i put in the whole can of tomatoes instead of the cup asked for?
who knows.  i do know that i liked it as a soup, so chances are that's what it will be in my house from now on.


here's the recipe as i made it :-)  (the original is here if you want to try it as a regular old ragu)


Gnocchi w/Wild Mushroom Soup


olive oil
1/2 large onion, diced
2 carrots, diced,
1 stalk of celery, diced
2 pounds mushrooms, stemmed and diced
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 pound cremini mushrooms, stemmed and diced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup white wine
1 can whole peeled tomatoes (i used the 365 organic brand from whole foods)
2 cups water
1/2 tsp of ground coriander (or 1/2 tsp of coriander that you grind yourself in a mortar and pestle because you refuse to go buy one.more.spice)
1/2 tsp ground fennel seeds (see above)
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1/2 tablespoon dried)
2 packages of good-quality gnocchi (i've had great luck at trader joe's and whole foods)




heat olive oil in a large pot over med-high heat
add onion, carrot and celery and cook until soft (about 5 minutes)

add 1 pound of the mushrooms and cook 3-5 minutes

season with salt and pepper, then push to the edges of the pot

add more olive oil and the additional pound of mushrooms and cook another 3-5 minutes

add the cremini mushrooms and cook 1 additional minute then season with salt and pepper

add the tomato paste and cook while stirring for about 2 minutes.

add the wine and cook down for about 2 minutes.

add the tomatoes, water and spices and simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes.  meanwhile, cook the gnocchi according to package directions.  

serve by putting gnocchi in a bowl and ladling the soup over it. fresh parmesan on it won't hurt anything.

verdict?
i loved it.
anthony, who is not much of a tomato OR mushroom person finished a bowl.


so, this is going down as a girls night or "i'm on my own" type recipe.  
(he did mention he would probably like it better with sausage...but we have my tortellini minestrone soup for that...)

(today i'm joining in this link-up since friday is generally when i post my recipe of the week...so visit this blog and link to one of your own if you like!)