Crispy Gnocchi with Burst Tomatoes and Mozzarella -- #recipe from @LeslieBudewitz #bookgiveaway

(Giveaway closed)

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Today is the official launch day for the paperback and ebook editions of To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop mystery! A delay at the printer meant audiobook readers got a rare first crack – yay! – but I’d already scheduled a few recipes featuring cumin, the spice star, all yummy and all terrific ways to celebrate. Try my Moroccan Mousse with Agave, Cumin Nature Burger, and Roasted Beet and Feta Salad with Cumin Dressing – and more tasty recipes in the back of the book. 

Today’s recipe is one I created after seeing a photo and a summary of the main ingredients. The full recipe was behind a paywall, but it looked so simple, I was sure I could replicate it with good results. And we did. Just to be sure, we tried it a second time.

You’re welcome.

We adore gnocchi, the little Italian potato dumplings. virtually any way they’re served. If you like them, too, be sure to try this recipe for Gnocchi With Creamy Spinach Sauce. Gnocchi are easy to find in regular grocery stores – no special trips required. 

Use “wet” mozzarella, either sold as a wrapped ball or in liquid, not the dry mozzarella sold in bricks. 

Searing the gnocchi can get exciting, if the oil spatters. Have a spatula ready, and a splatter screen if you’d like, and be prepared! If the oil isn’t hot enough, the gnocchi may stick. 

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe so you can print it easily. Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

One lucky reader will win a signed copy of To Err is Cumin!

Crispy Gnocchi with Burst Tomatoes and Mozzarella 

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound gnocchi

8 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes

1 - 2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste

8 ounces mozzarella, cut into chunks. 

1 - 2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut into ribbons

Heat oven to broil. (If your oven offers high and low broil settings, choose low until you know how your oven treats this recipe.)

In a large ovenproof skillet, heat the oil on the stovetop, over medium-high heat. Add the gnocchi and sear, 3-5 minutes, until golden brown. Turn off heat and toss in the tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes, and mozzarella chunks. 

Broil 5 minutes, or until the cheese is gooey and dappled with golden brown spots, and the tomatoes have burst. 

Remove from oven. Top with sliced basil. (Okay, I goofed and added basil before broiling, then added more after. Do as I say, not as I did.) Serve immediately.

What's your favorite way to eat tomatoes? If you've tried gnocchi, what's your favorite way to eat them? Leave a comment below, with your email address, for a chance to win a signed copy of To Err is Cumin. (US and Canada addresses only, please. Winner will be chosen Friday, Aug 9.)

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

TO ERR IS CUMIN: A Spice Shop Mystery (Seventh St. Books, out now in paper, ebook, and audio)

From the cover: 

One person’s treasure is another’s trash. . .

Pepper Reece, owner of the Spice Shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, wants nothing more than to live a quiet life for a change, running her shop and working with customers eager to spice up their cooking. But when she finds an envelope stuffed with cash in a ratty old wingback left on the curb, she sets out to track down the owner.

Pepper soon concludes that the chair and its stash may belong to young Talia Cook, new in town and nowhere to be seen. Boz Bosworth, an unemployed chef Pepper’s tangled with in the past, shows up looking for the young woman, but Pepper refuses to help him search. When Boz is found floating in the Ship Canal, only a few blocks from Talia’s apartment, free furniture no longer seems like such a bargain.

On the hunt for Talia, Pepper discovers a web of connections threatening to ensnare her best customer. The more she probes, the harder it gets to tell who’s part of an unsavory scheme of corruption—and who might be the next victim.

Between her quest for an elusive herb, helping her parents remodel their new house, and setting up the Spice Shop’s first cooking class, Pepper’s got a full plate. Dogged by a sense of obligation to find the rightful owner of the hidden treasure, she keeps on showing up and asking questions.

One mistake, and she could find herself cashing out. . .

Available at Amazon  * Barnes & Noble  * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * And your local booksellers!

And coming in September:

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Coming September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing; available for preorder now wherever you buy books. 

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest book is Between a Wok and a Dead Place, the 7th Spice Shop mystery.  Watch for To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery, in July 2024 and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. 

A past president of Sisters in Crime and national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.