Gnocchi al Pizzaiolo, Tea Biscuits and my Odd Looking Pasta

I made some nice tea biscuits the other day and thought I`d share the recipe for any biscuit lovers out there. Doubled the recipe and got about 14 large.

Tea Biscuits

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons shortening
1/2 cup of raisins
3/4 cup milk, plus
1-2 tablespoon milk

(for a sweet biscuit, add 1/4-1/2 cup sugar)

Combine dry ingredients.

Cut in the shortening until mixture is like coarse oatmeal. Add raisins.


Stir in 3/4 cup milk, then add 1 or 2 tablespoons more milk to form a soft dough.


Knead a few strokes on a lightly floured board.


Do not overwork dough.


Roll into a thick tube and slice about 1 1/2 inch thick chunks



Bake on a cookie sheet with parchment paper at 350°F for about 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
*** These would be nice with some hot peppers and cheese added instead of raisins or currants.

Next I opened my new cook book and made
Gnocchi with Fresh Tomatoes, Green Olives and Smoked Mozzarella
*** from Mario Batali`s "Molto Italiano" Cook Book

First off I made some Potato Gnocchi. Excuse how it looks hehe. I`ve never made any sort of pasta before and there was no picture of how it SHOULD look. When I did see a pic, it showed that one should press ones thumb into each piece to hold the sauce. Looks pathetic and lumpy but it did taste good. Tossed in olive oil, it will keep in the fridge for 48 hours until you need it.


There`s tons of recipes for this on the web and being a non typer, I won`t add this one, but I will add the sauce recipe...

1 pound of plum tomatoes ( I only had canned at the time, so used that, being as this was on a whim )
6 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
1/2 cup green olives ( again I had only sliced ones rather than whole )
Potatoe Gnocchi
4 ounces smoked fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4 inch cubes ( I used regular moz )
2 tblsp. fresh marjoram leaves ( used dried )* note to self ** plant some of this.
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 chopped onion ( not in original recipe but we love onions )

Core and chop tomatoes, saving the juice as well.
Saute garlic and onions for about a minute and then add the tomatoes and juice. Cook until soft. Of course mine were already soft :)
Simmer on low for a bit and add the marjoram and salt and pepper.

Place the warm Gnocchi in single serving bowls and pour the sauce over. Drop some mozzarella cubes on top and enjoy.

We had to eat ours at separate times so I put mine all together and heated it up in the microwave later on. It was actually quite nice with the cheese melted.
It`s very filling and if I serve it again, I`ll make less and have it as a side dish with a nice salad and some crusty bread.
If this recipe is any indication of the others in this book, I can`t wait to try something else!
Have a great week everyone. The snow has melted a wee small teeny tiny bit and I`m hoping it`s finally a sign that spring is on it`s way.