Pan Fried Gnocchi
I absolutely adore gnocchi. If I go to an Italian restaurant, chances are I’ll order gnocchi. I put it above handmade pasta. That’s how much I love it. And up until maybe a year ago, I was a total gnocchi snob. I would only ever have fresh or homemade gnocchi. Scarred from my uni days when I made store bought gnocchi and it was so chewy and tasteless. But in the years that have passed, I must say that packaged gnocchi has come a long way and now I happily use packaged gnocchi!
This gnocchi is served with a butter sauce which is a classic sauce for gnocchi.
Gnocchi is a potato flour dumpling, so it tastes like a cross between pasta and mashed potato. It’s soft on the inside, and when pan fried like in this recipe, it’s crispy on the outside. Plain gnocchi, like pasta, does not actually have much flavour in itself. So it’s used with sauces and ideal for add-ins, like pumpkin and spinach which is what I’m using here.
Filling out Gnocchi with Pumpkin
So nowadays, armed with the convenience of store bought gnocchi, the only thing that holds me back from a weekly gnocchi fix is that it’s so high in carbs. 250g/8oz of gnocchi has 90g of carbs, 400 calories. And it’s super dense so it’s only about 1 cup in volume which isn’t enough for a meal (at least, not for me!) Add a sauce and the calorie count starts hiking up quite considerably…. So to “lighten” it up and fill it out more, I like to add roasted pumpkin which has only 20g of carbs and 85 calories per 250g/8oz, almost 1/4 of gnocchi! Plus roasted pumpkin is so juicy, it provides more “wetness” to this dish instead of adding more butter.
Adding roasting pumpkin adds flavour as well as filling out the gnocchi dish to make it a filling meal
Butter sauce for Gnocchi
I think a simple butter sauce is the best sauce for gnocchi. But you don’t need tons of butter! If you just make this with loads of butter for the sauce, it’s far too rich. So the way to make a butter sauce is to add some of the water used to cook the gnocchi. This water is starchy, and when tossed with the butter sauce, the starch in the water reacts with the butter to thicken the water and creates a glossy butter sauce. It’s how a real proper Alfredo is made, the way restaurants make it, without using tons of cream. 🙂 So I use that same technique to make the butter sauce for this Pan Fried Gnocchi too. So every piece of golden crispy gnocchi is coated in a buttery sauce that actually clings to the gnocchi rather than pooling in the base of the bowl. You will love this, I promise! Yes it’s indulgent, and yes it’s still carb heavy, but it is lighter than making it without pumpkin. Try this with fresh garden salad on the side, tossed with Balsamic or Italian dressing! – Nagi x
Gnocchi Lovers!
Easiest homemade gnocchi ever – Ricotta Gnocchi Easy homemade Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage Butter Sauce Malfatti – Cousin of the gnocchi, made with spinach and ricotta
And some cosy risottos!
Just because when I think of gnocchi, for some reason there’s always a passing thought of whether to make risotto instead…
Chicken and Mushroom Risotto Creamy Baked Pumpkin Risotto Creamy Prawn Risotto (Shrimp) Chorizo Risotto with Kale One Pot Creamy Baked Risotto with Lemon Pepper Chicken
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Pan Fried Gnocchi with Pumpkin & Spinach recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
Whenever you see a photo of a table laden with food like the one above the recipe card, just know that this fur ball is sitting right underneath it. Always.
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