What you're having for dinner tonight...

Ok, so you think you already have dinner planned. But, once you see this, you'll change your mind, and make this instead...

I have been making this meal A LOT this summer. It's the best summertime meal, ever, I think. I sort of came up with it one day just working with what I had on hand, and it has gotten better the more I've fiddled with it. Since my two youngest sisters came to town to see me this week (HAHA! I know better than that, they came to see my kids!) I decided to make it for them.

So, here's my favorite summer dinner recipe for you, complete with pics.

Summer Gnocchi with Homemade Basil Pesto

All the ingredients:

(except for the parmesan cheese, cuz I forgot to take it out of the fridge for the pic)

Chicken Tenders

Potato Gnocchi (potato pasta, so good! Pronounced: Nee-Ohk-ee. You can get it at Trader Joe's.)

Garlic

Shallots

Olive Oil

Italian Parsley

Basil

Grape Tomatos

Red Bell Peppers

Parmesan Cheese

Pine Nuts

Sea Salt, Fresh Ground Pepper

So, you start by giving your garlic a good whack with a knife, to peel it. (This is awesome stress relief, due to the violent whacking action, and also the garlicky aromatherapy it provides. Also, garlic keeps the vampires away.) Chop up the Garlic and Shallots. Save a few cloves of garlic aside to use in the pesto.

Cube the chicken (on your meat cutting board, of course).

Combine Olive Oil, Chopped Shallots & Garlic and cubed chicken in a pan... saute 'till done. Also, start your water for the Gnocchi boiling with salt. You will use much less salt in your food total if you salt the water it cookes in, as opposed to the actual Gnocchi itself after cooking. Meanwhile, on a vegetable cutting board far far away...

You get to make pesto! Hurrah for homemade basil pesto!

As a side note: You can make pesto with pretty much any leafy substance. Basil is an obvious choice, because, well, it's basil, but it tends to be more expensive, so I use enough basil to make sure I'm getting the lovely basil pop in my mouth with each bite, but also combine it with Italian Parsley, which is more inexpensive, and also provides a lovely flavor. Parsley is highly underrated IMHO. Sometimes I use spinach too. That makes an excellent pesto fill in, and also has a lovely flavor that complements the basil quite well.

I use my all time favorite kitchen tool, The Mezzaluna, to make my pesto. Whatever ancient Italian grandmother invented this thing should be given a nobel prize, or something, I swear. I LOVE it! You can use a good knife, or a food processor/blender thing, but you really should get a mezzaluna. I got the Nigella Lawson Bliss Mezzaluna off Amazon for $12.99. Beyond worth it. I'm constantly amazed at how quickly and finely I can chop, without ruining the textural value of the leaf, or turning my sauce into a paste, like a blender would do. Also makes a great rough salsa, but that's another post.

So chop them all together with the garlic, and the pine nuts.

Then pour a healthy serving of olive oil in the bottom of your serving dish.

Mix in the leafy stuff with the olive oil. You can add freshly grated parmesan cheese to it at this point, but I prefer to save it for the end, so it also acts as a garnish for the dish as well.

Now, chop up your grape tomatoes and your pepper(s). I like my grape tomatoes whole usually, but for this dish I chop them in half, because it's so pretty, and also easier to get on a fork that way.

Look at those lovely colors! Aren't you hungry now?! Impossible to deny. (of course, if you notice my glaring flash reflecting hairline that may distract from the yumminess a bit. Just keeping it real, folks.)

So, now you smack Debris for yoinking your tomatoes and sucking the juice out of them, and discarding everything else. Weird kid. And then, you add your cooked chicken mix. (She's cute tho, isn't she?)

Your water should be boiling like crazy by now, so drop your gnocchi in carefully. It cooks super fast, so keep an eyeball on them. They are done when they float to the surface.

Use a sieve scooper thinga-mabob to pull them out and drop them in your serving dish as they arise.

Mix together, with a little fresh ground sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese, and some leftover sprigs of Italian Parsley. ENJOY the amazing bursts of summertime flavor in your mouth!

I suggest serving with Rosemary Focaccia bread. Auntie Ten and Debris made it. It's delish, but I'm new to this, so I can only take pictures of one recipe at a time.