Putting a temporary restraining order on Italian food

Warning! Do not try these at home!

Story: So I had a lot of time on my hands (two blogs in one day!). This is my last Italian meal for awhile and I will move onto another cuisine next week. Plus, I am in the middle of editing a paper and people that know me know that I like to cook to procrastinate. During finals, I make my most time intensive meals.

The meal I'm making tonight was my Oxford staple. I really never liked Italian food before my visit to Italy. I loved the food so much I went to Italy twice and stayed a total of two weeks there. Needless to say, I loved EVERY meal.

I decided to make my favorite pasta dish--at least the sauce part. I think pesto, garlic, tomatoes and spinach make a great combination. It works with all types of pasta-- raviolis, linguine, spaghetti etc. The sauce sticks to the pasta very well. This time I decided to use gnocchi.

I started off by sauteing the tomatoes with olive oil. Cherry tomatoes add a subtle sweetness that's quite nice. I try not to cook them too much or the water will spill out and you'll have watery sauce.

After the tomatoes were nicely sauteed, I added the squid ringlets, peeled shrimp, and some baby scallops. Once the seafood is nicely browned---which happens pretty quick- I added some garlic (powder) and onion (flakes) and some pesto. They do the job but you can't replace fresh garlic and onion.

I turned off the heat and loaded the pan with a pile of spinach. The residual heat in the pan and in the tomatoes/seafood are enough to wilt the spinach nicely. You don't want anymore heat or you'll overcook the seafood.

After some careful stirring. Then all you have to do is again carefully scoop in the gnocchi and stir that around to coat the pasta. I always save some of the salted pasta water so you can make the pasta thinner if necessary. For this kind of sauce its usually necessary for a well-drained pasta.

Plated: I know you are not suppose to mix cheese with seafood, but that's like drinking and driving. You're not suppose to do it, but its fine/fun as long as you don't get caught.

Victory Dinner! Last pasta dish for awhile. This forkful has a little bit of everything: shrimp, spinach, tomato, and gnocchi.

Ingredients: Gnocchi, Salt, Leftover Pasta water, shrimp, squid, scallops, spinach, olive oil, pepper, garlic powder (sigh), onion flakes (sigh), cherry tomatoes

Wishlist: Fresh garlic and onion