My sister went to the Farmer’s Market, picked up a few delicata squash, and gave one to me.   She had no idea what would happen next….

It all began with this recipe from Eating Well, one of my favorite sites.  I started by pouring balsamic vinegar in a saucepan, to make the balsamic reduction for a garnish.  Meanwhile, my Mom had leftover mashed potatoes in the freezer, so we decided to make our own gnocchi.  It’s pretty simple with just potato, egg, and flour, except the dough required about twice as much flour as usual.  With flour just about everywhere and dough on our hands, we smelled something burning, and realized the balsamic was in fact reduced to a smoking mess on bottom of the saucepan.

Things got a little easier from there.  I took out a big frying pan, and sauteed the sliced delicata squash with onion and garlic.  Then I added vegetable broth and covered the pan until the squash was softened.  I added the gnocchi, spinach, chickpeas, and some sliced tomato, and cooked it until everything was done.  We had a little balsamic left for drizzling, and some Parmesan cheese for the top.  Finally, dinner was served.

Putting all the mess aside, this actually turned out really well!  Things were so hectic that I didn’t do a lot of measuring and timing, but I would still suggest the recipe.  But maybe you should just buy the gnocchi….

• Main Dishes