This is the beginning of one of those times when I will not have a day off for a little while. We're not in tech yet, so I will still be eating light for dinner. But I will not have a day off for another two weeks. I thought about what is in my freezer, and accepted that nothing is light enough for a rehearsal-mode dinner. But the freezer is full. So this weekend, I had to make room for the dinners that I can't make next weekend (because: no day off) to eat the following week... Still with me?

Long story long, I made space for some roasted cauliflower and carrot soup (post forthcoming, hopefully near next week) to freeze for not this coming week but the week after by pulling out some gnocchi for lunches this week. A dang fine swap, if you ask me.

I have mentioned that I love mushrooms enormously, right? When I make gnocchi, half the time, I will also make this mushroom ragu from Food Network Magazine to go with it. It has all the mushrooms. It is beautifully balanced, and fresh but hearty. I make it at least once a year.

Planning!

I bought as many variations of mushrooms I could find at the store. The different shapes and sizes and variations of flavors of fungi make the dish more interesting. My grocery store really came through. Meanwhile, I had written a bad note to myself and didn't realize I was out of coriander, so I had to skip that when I was cooking. And, I used dried thyme instead of fresh. And, and, and, I had kept the rest of last week's mint alive, so I was able to add some at the end! Victory!

Here's the nutritional breakdown from Fitbit...

Groceries I had on hand...

• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• carrots
• celery
• onion
• white wine
• tomato paste
• bay leaves
• fennel
• red pepper flakes
• thyme
• mint
• gnocchi

Groceries I had to buy...

• mushrooms (king oysters for $3.99; cremini for $2.49; oysters for $2.49; brown beech for $2.99; white beech for $2.49; enoki for $1.79 = $16.24
• san marzano tomatoes ($2.29)

Total monies spent for the entire recipe: $18.53

Total monies spent for each of these 4 portions of ragu....

$4.63 per portion...

Cooking!

Well, first of all once I started cleaning the mushrooms, I realized that the oysters were no good, so I tossed those. I cleaned up and diced the rest, diced the rest of the veggies, and got cracking. This is a fairly hands-off recipe. I cooked down the mirepoix, then browned the mushrooms in two batches (not the three called for in the recipe). Then the rest of the stuff in the order it suggested (I rip up the san marzanos right over the pot), then a nice hearty simmer (light boil, honestly, per the instructions). When the ragu was ready (and smelled AMAZING), I portioned it out, wiped down the pot, added water, and brought it up to boil for the gnocchi. The gnocchi container came out of the freezer once the water was boiling, and five minutes later, I had dinner.

And when I said, "I had dinner," I mean I ate this for dinner tonight and only saved three portions for my lunches. I couldn't wait! And I'm so glad I didn't! I love this dish, and loved it all over again this evening.