My Semi-Homemade Moment: Introducing the 32-Minute Meal
Crispy-Herby Gnocchi with Lemon Flesh and Roasty Mushrooms
Heard of the Pomodoro Technique for time management and focus? I hadn’t until earlier this week, when my friend Rachel clued me in. She’s been acutely aware of my quest for higher productivity ever since I took on the ginormous project that: (1) has taken over my life, (2) makes me dig deeply every day to recall what free time feels like, (3) warrants a reveal (very soon!), and (4) has intermittently come between me and my beloved NOODLE.
The method: Set a kitchen timer (à la the old school twisty tomato ones, hence pomodoro) for 25 minutes. Work on a designated project– and only that project– until the timer dings. Take a 5-minute break. Repeat this cycle of 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off, three to four times. And then take a longer, 15-30 minute break.
Given that my typical timeframe to create a newsletter-worthy recipe is many hours and days, I started to wonder if this cyclical approach to efficiency might behoove my noodling. I had a recipe idea percolating and already had the ingredients, but I straight-up didn’t have time for the silly tomato’s on-and-off shenanigans.
So I decided to rejigger the philosophy a bit and take this whole Pomodoro program for a turbo-charged spin. I’d set out to develop a recipe, start to finish, in a single, 25-minute block. Pomodoro turned Porsche.
And I thought it’d be kinda fun, too?! I don’t get out much these days.
In 32 minutes, I was done, and ecstatic: a measly 7 minutes over my lofty goal. An aberration! The initial pass on a recipe (as opposed to the 14th) is notoriously the one that takes the most time: drawn out and wrought-over. It’s a first draft, after all, inclusive of documenting, measuring, weighing, thinking, and analyzing. And analyzing.
I recognize that I’m a fast cook and very good at simultaneous action in the kitchen. I also recognize that, in a totally absurd interest to beat my self-imposed 25-minute buzzer, I left an explosion of kitchen chaos in my wake. But. The fact that this first attempt came together in 32 minutes is a solid indicator that this’ll be a quick recipe for you, too. And because I obsess over recipes and am far too frequently the victim of “don’t let perfect be the enemy of good,” I promise it is also super delicious.
The recipe is written so that the lemon prep– freeing lemon flesh from its membranes– and resulting lemon pesto are both prepared before you start cooking the mushrooms and crisping the gnocchi.
BUT: if time is as precious as (some see) a Porsche, execute in the following manner and be finito in under 30 minutes: Roast the mushrooms and brown the gnocchi (in the same skillet) as you simultaneously supreme lemon segments and make the “pesto.” By the time the mushrooms are golden and the gnocchi crisped, the sauce is ready, necessitating a mere 1 minute toss in the skillet before plating up.
And prepare that plate for a grand ol’ pile of roasty mushrooms and shallots, a hand-chopped quickie sauce made with mixed herbs and nuts of your choice, plus olive oil, parm, garlic, and a not-so-shy amount of serranos.
But here’s the soul of this recipe: Ripped pieces of actual lemon flesh, providing bright bursts of unequivocal citrus essence, garnish each portion of seared, herb-swathed (store-bought!) piles of (crunchy!) potato dumplings. Yep, go ahead and store-buy. Those vacuum-packed packages of pre-cooked gnocchi might surprise you. They’re chewy and pudgy and they crisp up as easily as a twist of the timer.
CRISPY HERBY GNOCCHI WITH LEMON FLESH AND ROASTY MUSHROOMS
Serves 2-4
REMEMBER, BEST PRACTICE: READ THE RECIPE START TO FINISH BEFORE YOU BEGIN COOKING!
Sure, you can skip the segmenting of the lemon and just squeeze lemon juice into your herby sauce instead, but those ripped bits of glistening lemon flesh will be what distinguish this dish from other lemon-forward recipes, flavored with mere squeezes of plain ol’ juice.
Make the pesto-like sauce in a mini prep or blender if you prefer that to hand chopping. Realize that using a blender may necessitate more olive oil to get the mixture going.
Try to pick two of the three herbs offered as options in the recipe: doing so will be… surprise!... more delicious.
2 lemons
1 cup (very firmly packed) leaves and tender stems from a mix of cilantro, parsley, and/or basil
¾ ounce (about ⅓ heaping cup) toasted nuts, such as walnuts, almonds, and/or pine nuts
1 serrano or jalapeño chile, thinly sliced
½ cup olive oil, divided, plus additional for cooking and serving
1 clove garlic, finely grated
½ ounce (about ¼ cup finely grated) Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus additional for serving
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound mushrooms of your choice, such as shiitake, crimini/baby bella, oyster, or maitake; shiitakes and crimini quartered (stems are ok on the shiitakes!); oyster and maitake torn into bite-sized pieces
One (16-ounce) package gnocchi
¾ cup thinly sliced shallots, from about 3 medium
Tarragon, thyme, oregano, dill, basil, cilantro, parsley, or any other herbs that strike your fancy, for serving
1. Do your lemon prep: Using a vegetable peeler, remove two long peels from 1 lemon. Thinly slice the peel into lengthwise strips. Pile the strips together and cut crosswise into a mince. Set aside. Now, segment both lemons: Cut the top and bottom ½-inch off of the lemon you just peeled, plus one more. Sit them flat on your cutting board. Using a sharp knife, remove and discard the peel and white pith in vertical cuts, following the curvature of the fruit as best you can, aiming not to remove much of the flesh. Working over a bowl to catch any juices, segment the fruit, starting by making a slice into one segment, alongside a membrane. Then make a second cut on the other side of the segment to release it from the core without any membrane attached, letting it drop into the bowl. Repeat this process all the way around the lemon. Squeeze the membrane-less core into the bowl with the segments to extract any remaining lemon juice. Repeat with the second lemon.
2. Make the herby sauce: Place the 1 cup (firmly packed) herbs on a cutting board, along with 1 ounce toasted nuts, diced lemon peel, and half of the serrano chile slices. (Reserve the remainder for serving.)
Vigorously chop everything with a large chef’s knife until finely chopped, running your knife over and across the pile continuously. Break out your bench scraper (nowwww you understand its purpose) to transfer everything you’ve just chopped to a medium bowl.
3. Add ¼ cup olive oil, 1 clove grated garlic, ¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, half of the lemon segments and all of the juice that’s sitting in the bowl. Season aggressively with salt and pepper. Note: You can also do all of the chopping from Step 2 and combine with the above elements in a blender or mini prep.
4. Roast the mushrooms: Preheat the largest skillet you have– preferably nonstick or a well-seasoned cast iron, to prevent gnocchi from sticking– over high heat for 2 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, swirl to coat, and add 1 pound chopped mushrooms. Shake the pan to coat the mushrooms in the oil and season with salt and pepper. Let sit, undisturbed, for 2 minutes. Toss the mushrooms, drizzle with a bit more olive oil and sprinkle on some more s&p. Continue to cook, stirring only every 1-2 minutes so as to encourage browning, until mushrooms are softened and golden on all sides, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer mushrooms to a sheet pan or platter.
5. Reduce heat to medium-high. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan, swirl to coat, and add one (16-ounce) package gnocchi, shaking pan to coat the dumplings in oil and to distribute them in an even layer in the skillet. Season with salt and pepper and cook, tossing pan only occasionally, until gnocchi are beginning to turn golden in spots, about 5-6 minutes. Replenish with oil if at any point the skillet seems dry. Add ¾ cup thinly sliced shallots, toss to combine, and continue to cook with the gnocchi, until shallots are deeply golden brown and gnocchi is crispy all over, about 3-4 minutes more. (If you find that they are not browning, you are moving them around in the pan too much.)
6. Turn off the heat, add the herby sauce, and return the mushrooms to the skillet. Toss to coat, taste, and season with salt and pepper. SERVE! Top each serving with torn pieces of the reserved lemon segments and serrano chiles, a shower of Parmigiano-Reggiano, a good drizzle of olive oil, and any other herbs for garnishing that strike your fancy.
Today, I told my husband I'm debating writing about a movie-themed meal for a post, but I didn't want anything too “on the nose” or punny (i.e. chicken parm and The Godfather was just too obvious). I think including “lemon flesh” in a dish paired with a horror movie is just the right amount of literary zing 🍋🧟