I was scrounging around in the Asian food market the other day, looking for fresh thai chilis so I could make this. I never did find thai chilis, but I did find out that the Asian market has fresh pork belly. As I have stated before on this site, bacon is its own food group. And pork belly is definitely included in that food group.

For those of you not familiar with pork belly, it is the part of the pig that bacon is made from. It is has been a part of Asian cooking forever, but has only recently become known in American restaurants. There are a lot of ways to cook it, although some sort of braising seems to be the most popular. I love a good braise, but I don’t have time on a Friday to braise. I decided to marinate the pork belly and grill it.

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The stores and markets are full of spring produce! Fresh peas, fiddlehead ferns, fresh favas, asparagus, morels. My refrigerator is full of fabulous things. So on a recent Friday night, I wanted to put together a seasonal meal for my friends. They offered to bring fresh pasta, but I had this recipe, from an old Bon Appetit, in the back of my mind. Because despite the name of my blog, there has not been much beet around here lately. So, I roasted some beets ahead of time and put them in the fridge. The gnocchi are fairly quick. They are a ricotta gnocchi, which have been all over blogdom lately because they were featured on the Daring Cooks challenge. This recipe is quicker and easier than that recipe, and as you can see, the results are a lovely purple color.

I made a sauce of peas, morels, and a little bacon. I added some grassfed meatballs, and Bouchon for 2’s lovely fiddlehead salad. It made quite a meal.

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