The one where it's a warm winter day

January 2012 seems much closer to spring than it does winter. All week it's been in the 40's & 50's, leaving me terribly nostalgic for a cold wintery day for me to bundle up in & walk in the snow. Alas, that day has not yet come, perhaps in February? Regardless, today I found myself insistent upon enjoying the pleasures of winter. What is more wintery (yes, I've fabricated this word & intend on using it liberally) than a hearty meat & potatoes meal with a glass of red wine?

I set out to make a simple but sinfully delicious sausage based red sauce with which I will cover delicate little pillow of gnocchi. To start we'll need ingredients:

1 can cubed tomatoes

1 can crushed tomatoes

3 sausage links

3 cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

2 small white onions

While the sausage began browning in a separate pan, I I diced the onion, crushed & diced the garlic & allowed them to caramelize in the bottom of a wide-deep pot. (I added one tbs butter to facilitate in the caramelization)

Once the sausage is browned on all sides, turn burner off, & set aside to cool. By this point, the onions & garlic should be caramelized. Season with salt, pepper, & a bit of basil.

Pour in the tomatoes which will deglaze the onions. Stir together, & add 1 tsp sugar (this cuts the harsh acidity of the tomatoes) & let simmer slowly.

After several minutes, stir in a small tsp of crushed red pepper -- a lovely little kick which will be well appreciated in cool wintery days.

I decided to slice the sausage into 1/4 inch thick slices. By allowing the sausage to cool, you lock in all those tasty juices!

Once all sliced, mix those into the red sauce also. Allow this to all simmer together for some time, it'll mix all it's wonderful flavors together on its own!

I always make big batches of gnocchi dough & usually freeze it for whenever the urge strikes me (unless of course I'm throwing some big dinner party -- which will occur soon). Being so, I let some of the dough I had thaw out, rolled it out, & cut it into tiny little gnocchi.

My favorite little quirk about gnocchi is that as they boil to perfection (only takes about 3 minutes), they sit at the bottom of the pot, when they're ready they suddenly pop to the surface & float. SO when you have a full pot of gnocchi, they all suddenly start pop, pop, popping to the surface. I can't explain why, but it amuses me & makes me giggle a little at their funny little dance.

I heaped a generous portion of sauce over my gnocchi & sat down with a delicious glass of Vino Nobile di Montepluciano -- very Tuscan & tannic -- all in all, satisfied my need for a cool wintery day :)