Lemon Gnocchi with Spinach & Peas

I'm back! Orlando was great! My friends and I split our time between poolside relaxation and Disney parks.  As expected in Florida, it rained one day, but luckily it wasn't one of our park days.  Our first stop on Saturday was Hollywood Studios.  We rode Toy Story Midway Mania, Tower of Terror, and Aerosmith's Rockin' Rollercoaster.  We moved over to Epcot in the afternoon, and sampled the food and drinks in  the World Showcase.  My personal favorite was the hazelnut liqueur Kasbah Coffee in Morocco.

We saved Magic Kingdom for Monday, hoping the park would be less crowded without the weekend vacationers.  Success! In 9 hours, we experienced 18 rides (some duplicates) and even had a sit down lunch.  Karen rode her first roller coaster and announced Big Thunder Mountain Railroad as her favorite ride in the park.  With that being said, we rode Big Thunder again and convinced her to try Space Mountain, too.  We ended the day with a brownie Sundae from Plaza Restaurant on Main Street, and watched the fireworks over Cinderella's castle.  It was perfect!

I thought this would take about 25 minutes to pull together, but I promise it only took 15 minutes.  Once the water boiled, the gnocchi only took 2 minutes to cook.  Don't forget to reserve some of the pasta water for the sauce! Once the gnocchi was finished, the veggies and sauce were already done, too.  I increased the crushed red pepper flakes and decided to use garlic salt because, in my opinion, one clove of garlic was not enough! I hope you enjoy this quick, easy, and healthy dinner.  I know KK enjoyed it because there were no leftovers, but I think he's also just happy to have me home :)

Lemon Gnocchi with Spinach & Peas
Adapted from Epicurious
Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients
1 pound gnocchi
1 cup frozen baby peas
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups packed baby spinach
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
1.  Boil water and cook gnocchi according to package directions.  Reserve 1/2 cup water before draining gnocchi.

2. In a large skillet, combine peas, evaporated milk, red pepper flakes, garlic, and garlic salt.  Cover skillet, and simmer over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, until peas are tender.

3. Add spinach to skillet and reduce heat to medium-low.  Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally until spinach is wilted.  Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

4. Add Parmesan cheese and gnocchi to the skillet.  Stir to coat.  Add reserved water as needed to thin the sauce.