By I asked Megan out. I did it over text because calling someone on the phone in 2021 is apparently a war crime according to everyone under thirty. I typed, "Want to grab a drink sometime?" She replied, "Depends on where." I said the Lakefront Brewery taproom. She said, "Isn't that where you work?" I said yes. She said, "So you're taking me to your job." I said, "I can get us free beer." She said, "Saturday works."
I am going on a date on Saturday. With the nacho girl. I need to not be weird about this. I am being weird about this.
In the meantime, work. The hefeweizen is done and it's excellent — cloudy, banana and clove notes, refreshing in a way that makes you want to drink three of them, which is exactly the point. We're debuting it at the taproom this weekend. The pale ale needs another week. Brewing teaches you patience in ways that nothing else does. You can't rush fermentation. You can't rush yeast. You just have to trust the process and check the numbers and wait.
Sunday dinner at Tom and Linda's. I didn't tell them about Megan. It's too early. If I tell Linda I met a girl she'll ask seventeen questions and then tell her friend Diane at church and then Diane will pray for my relationship at the prayer group, and by Monday the entire Bay View Polish community will know I went on one date. I love my mother. My mother is a problem.
Made a batch of pierogi ruskie — the classic potato and cheese — and brought them to Sunday dinner. Tom ate eight. Linda ate two and took six home for the week. These are the pierogi I've been perfecting for three years now, since Babcia died. The dough is where I've improved the most. Thin, elastic, holds together in the boil but tender on the bite. Babcia's dough was better. It will always be better. But mine is getting close, and close is enough to make Tom's eyes get glassy, and that's the only review that matters.
Look, I know these aren’t pierogi. I’m not going to pretend a skillet dinner is the same as two dozen hand-pinched ruskie that took me an afternoon and a mental conversation with my grandmother. But gnocchi are potato dumplings, and potato dumplings are what my brain defaults to when I need something warm and grounding — after a nerve-wracking text exchange with Megan, after a Sunday dinner where I almost spilled everything to Linda and somehow didn’t, after a week of waiting on fermentation and waiting on Saturday. This skillet comes together in about twenty minutes, and right now, twenty minutes feels very manageable.
Chicken Sausage & Gnocchi Skillet
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 oz Italian-style chicken sausage, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- 1 lb shelf-stable or refrigerated potato gnocchi
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- Brown the sausage. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage rounds in a single layer and cook 3–4 minutes per side until browned. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Soften the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to the same skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
- Add gnocchi and broth. Pour in the chicken broth and add the gnocchi. Stir to coat, cover the skillet, and cook 4–5 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until gnocchi are tender and have absorbed most of the liquid.
- Bring it together. Return sausage to the skillet. Add cherry tomatoes and spinach. Stir and cook 2–3 minutes until spinach is wilted and tomatoes have softened slightly. Season with salt and pepper.
- Finish and serve. Remove from heat and sprinkle with Parmesan. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve immediately straight from the skillet.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 420 | Protein: 24g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 48g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 780mg