The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Pasta

Gnocchi with Pesto and Roasted Vegetables
Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Orlando, FL

Gnocchi has always been one of my favorite pasta dishes because it is made with my favorite ingredient, potatoes, and I absolutely love pesto cause of its strong flavor.  So when I saw this I knew I had to get it! The roasted vegetables I thought would be a little weird, but they were honestly the best part of this dish!

The gnocchi are like little pillows sitting in your dish. Light, airy, and incredibly flavorful.  They are perfectly salted and creamy inside.  The pesto sauce was one of the best I have ever tasted.  It was such a bright green color and wasn't too garlicky.  You could taste every bit of fresh basil put in and the high grade olive oil used. The perfect amount of sauce was used so it wasn't swimming in a pool of sauce.  Now to the vegetables.  It came with plump mushrooms, broccolini, roasted eggplant, and cherry tomatoes.  The mushrooms were probably my favorite because they were so meaty and tender.  The broccolini was perfectly cooked and added an extra layer of flavor to the entire dish.  I usually am not a fan of eggplant, but this eggplant was amazing.  It had a sort of nutty, roasted flavor that I have never tasted before.  Since I hate tomatoes, I was not willing to give them a try, but they looked beautiful!

This dish was everything you could want in a pasta dish and more!

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Mushroom and Onion Flatbread

Ingredients:
1 onion, thinnly sliced,
1 pizza dough, homemade or storebought
8 small mushrooms, cremini or white button, thinnly sliced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup mozzarella chese
1 garlic clove
salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. 

In a large skillet, add the chopped garlic clove and the thinnly sliced onion. Saute on medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Sprinkle with salt about half way through to help pull out the moisture from the onions.  Then toss in the thinnly sliced mushrooms and continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes or until the onions and mushrooms are soft and brown.  Add the balsamic vinegar and stir.

Meanwhile, roll out your pizza dough about 1/8 inch thick.  Put on an oiled baking sheet and bake in the hot oven for about 5 minutes or until it browns.  Then flip the dough over and put in the oven for another 2 minutes.  Take it out of the oven and place the mozzarella cheese on the dough.  Then put the mushroom and onion mixture on top.  Put back in the oven for about 5 minutes.  Cut and enjoy!

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Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

These are a delicious healthy lunch or a great side at dinner.  It tastes delicious and is so easy to make.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:
2 portobello mushrooms
1/4 of an on onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 box frozen spinach
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
3/4 cup bread crumbs
3 basil leaves
2 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the spinach in a microwave safe bowl and cook in the microwave for 6-8 minutes.  When it is done drain well and squeeze out of the liquid in the spinach.



Take the stems out of the portobello mushrooms and place the mushrooms face up in a baking dish.  Chop up the stems and reserve.  In a large skillet saute the onions and garlic for about 6 minutes.  Then add the mushrooms stems and the spinach and cook for another 5 minutes.  Finish with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.

Once the mixture is caramelized and browned, take out of the pan and allow to cool in a bowl.  Once cool, add the chopped basil, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.  Stir the mixture. 

Take half the mixture and stuff it inside the mushroom cap, packing it down.  Do the same with the other mushroom. 

Then top the mushrooms with either mozzarella cheese, or additional parmesan cheese.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is golden and the mushroom is full cooked. Serve and enjoy!

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