Carrot Gnocchi

A couple of carrots were way past time to pull.  That kind of messed up what I had planned for dinner, so I compensated by putting them inside the pasta.  It did work with trying not to go grocery shopping, so it wasn't a total disappointment.

For the most part, I followed this recipe from PureWow.  The main change was using cream cheese instead of parmesan, because using up the cream cheese before it went bad was my goal for this meal (left over from the turkey tetrazzini, and I was shocked it was still good).  As a result of using a high-moisture cheese, I added flour to her ratio.  And I didn't make a butter sauce, opting instead for cracking open a jar of sauce I had gotten for free.

I'm flat-out skipping the step of putting tine marks on the pieces.  The dough was so soft, it wouldn't have held them.  And this is way easier than the butternut squash gnocchi.  Including cooking the carrots and chilling the dough, you're still only looking at about an hour of mostly passive time.

*2 C carrots (peeled and chopped)
2 egg yolks
pinch of salt
*1/3 C low fat cream cheese
2 C flour, plus more for dusting

1.  Place peeled and chopped carrots in a saucepan with water to cover.  Bring to a low boil and simmer until very tender, about 20 minutes.  Drain.  You can mash them with a fork if you want to be all rustic.  That lasted about 5 seconds with me before I got out the food processor.  Add cream cheese and run again into an orange, carroty paste.  Let the purée cool slightly before moving on.

2.  In a bowl, combine carrot mixture with remaining ingredients.  If still too soft and sticky to handle, add a bit more flour.  Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge while you're bringing the water to a boil.

3.  Bring a large pot of about a gallon of slightly salted water to a medium boil.  Roll out handfuls of dough into ropes 1/2" in diameter.  Cut into little pillow shapes and drop in the boiling water.  Cook until they float, about 5 minutes.  Strain out and serve hot with sauce of choice.

Difficulty rating  :)