Gnocchi, fresh tomato sauce, and sausages oh my!

Wednesday night we had some good friends over for dinner- first dinner guests in our new home. I have to say, it was a huge success! I served arugula salad with shaved Parmesan and a lemon vinaigrette, homemade gnocchi with fresh tomato sauce and grilled Italian sausages. I went shopping at the farmers market for the tomatoes and arugula and it was so worth it!!

Everything was so fresh and delicious!!





I love gnocchi but it is a time consuming process to make. I started a day earlier and baked the potatoes, made the dough, shaped the dumplings and boiled them. Then I tossed them with olive oil and put them in the fridge. Early Wednesday, I blanched, shocked, peeled and diced the tomatoes so they were ready for the sauce. Then, I prepped the remaining ingredients, made the vinaigrette and had everything ready to go when our friends arrived. Once they were there, my hubby grilled the sausages while I quickly made the tomato sauce and sautéed the gnocchi. Then, I tossed it together, dressed the salad and plated everything up. It was a lot of prep work but very little to do once our guests arrived. Everyone loved dinner and we had great food, conversation and vino!

Here is a picture of the finished gnocchi but this a picture of the cold leftovers.  I didn't take a picture before we sat down to dinner.