Collard Greens & Bacon Gnocchi

Why did the pig cross the farm? To get to the other swine.

You strictly read my blog for stories and recipes, not for the extremely creative and very humorous, showing the awesomeness of the creator, jokes. So consider this a treat, my friend.

OK. Enough fun for one day. Now it is recipe and story time, so cuddle up with your iPhone, your future iPad, your personal computer, your expensive reading device, a warm cup of milk, grab your cuddle buddy, and enjoy.

It 'twas a long long time ago, in a far away land where a peasant name Gnocchi once lived. Only tomatoes wanted to be friends with it, because it's mother would shun her from the other vegetables. But one day.... OK enough story time. To sum it up, I created an awesome, and I mean awesome meal consisting of collard greens, gnocchi and wait for it, wait for it some more, wait...Why did the pig cross the farm?... OK, you guessed it. It's bacon. My readers are so smart.

Don't get discouraged by the collard greens. They are cooked with butter and bacon, and anything is amazing if cooked with butter and bacon so rethink your hate for anything green. I'm not saying it is a good idea to have bacon bits with your string bean casserole, I'm simply saying that... wait. That may be good. String beans and bacon? I will write that down.

Enjoy.

Collard Greens & Bacon Gnocchi
Serving Size: 4

What You'll Need:
*1 tbsp butter
*1 bunch collard greens
*4 slices bacon
*2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
*¼ tsp salt
*¼ tsp red pepper flakes
*2 pounds frozen gnocchi

Instructions:
*Boil a large pot of water
*Add 1 tbsp of butter to pot
*Wash collard green leaves three times to remove dirt
*Cut away leaves from center stalk and discard stalk or use for vegetable stock
*Lay leaves onto each other and roll them from tip to tip- holding roll in place with hand
*Cut ½ inch slices along the length of each roll
*Add collard greens to boiling water and cook for 25 minutes
*18 minutes into cooking the collard greens, heat large sauté' pan over medium-high heat and add 4 slices of bacon
*Cook bacon for 3 minutes on each side
*Remove from pan and place on paper towel-lined dish
*Add garlic to pan and cook for 30 seconds
*Remove collard greens with slotted spoon, making sure excess water drips back into the pot. Return water back to a boil because you will be using this water to cook the gnocchi.
*Add collard greens to pan.
*Add salt and red pepper to pan, stirring to combine
*Cut bacon into tiny bits and add to pan and stir to combine
*Add 1/4 cup of water from the collard green pot to mixture and combine
*Heat through for 3 minutes
*While collard green mixture is heating, add gnocchi to the water and cook for 4-6 minutes
*Strain gnocchi and toss gnocchi with collard green mixture in large bowl and serve.