I got some lovely fresh herbs from my mom's garden at Thanksgiving. And I've been enjoying trying out different recipes to use them up. So far, I've been focusing on the parsley and rosemary. But I ran across this delicious-looking recipe for baked gnocchi with sage and decided to give that a try.

It's definitely not health food by any means, but it is easy and tastes fantastic!

Baked Gnocchi with Fontina, Pancetta, and Sage

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 125-250g pancetta¹, chopped
• 2-3 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage
• 1kg gnocchi
• 1 1/2 c. half-and-half (10% MF)
• 250g fontina cheese², cut into 5mm cubes
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/3 c. panko breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and grease a 23x33cm (9x13") lasagne pan.
2. Cook the pancetta over medium heat until crisp.
3. Drain off as much of the fat as possible, add the sage, and set aside.
4. Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions (or slighlty less).
5. Drain the gnocchi and add it to the pan with the pancetta along with the half-and-half, cheese, and pepper.
6. Stir to combine and pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
7. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 15-20 minutes.
8. It breadcrumbs are not sufficiently browned, place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes.

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¹ The original recipe called for 125g of pancetta, but we all really like pancetta here, so I decided to double it. That said, I do think that the smaller quantity would have been sufficient -- even if the bumped up amount was delicious! ^Back
2 The original recipe called for taleggio cheese. I couldn't find any at the grocery store, so I substituted fontina. I think oka probably also would have been good, but the fontina was cheaper and I was able to find a piece that was exactly the amount I needed, so I just went with that. ^Back

This was delicious! It falls a bit short of being a single-pot meal, although you could probably get away with preparing it in a large dutch oven and then baking it there. The entire family declared it to be a favourite, and while it takes a while to prepare it's quite easy to do.

Tuscan Butter Gnocchi

Delish

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 C cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 4 C kale or spinach, chopped
• 1 C low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 C heavy cream
• ½ C freshly grated parmesan
• 1 tbsp basil
• 3 tbsp parsley
• 1 kg gnocchi
• 1 C shredded mozzarella
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
   
2. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat.
3. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
4. Add cherry tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes begin to burst.
5. Add spinach or kale and cook until starting to wilt.
6. Stir in broth, cream, parmesan, basil, and parsley. Simmer until slightly reduced, ~3-5 minutes.
   
7. Add gnocchi and toss together.
8. Pour into a 9×13" baking pan and top evenly with mozzarella.
9. Bake until cooked through and mozzarella is melty, 30 minutes.
10. Optionally garnish with more herbs and lemon juice.

Mixed results with this Hello Fresh recipe; symbol and I both loved it, the Kidlet -- who apparently doesn't like mozzarella-type cheeses anymore -- spurned it. I would definitely make it again, though! Maybe in a year or two she'll be back on board with soft cheeses...

Gnocchi with Bocconcini and Oregano

Hello Fresh

Ingredients

• 700g gnocchi
• 200g bocconcini, drained and quartered
• 113g baby spinach
• 120mL feta cheese, crumbled
• 225g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 60mL white wine vinegar
• 5g fresh oregano leaves, chopped
  
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 60g assorted olives, chopped
• 60mL butter
• 60mL oil
• 5mL sugar
  
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Whisk together the oil, vinegar, and sugar in a large bowl (large enough to hold all the other ingredients; if you don't have a bowl large enough, prepare the gnocchi in a large pot and add the vegetables to it at the end, rather than vice versa).
2. Stir in the feta, olives, bocconcini, and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside.
   
3. Heat a large pan over medium heat.
4. Melt the butter, then add the gnocchi. Pan-fry, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 6-10 minutes.
5. Add the garlic, onions, and oregano. Continue cooking until the onions begin to soften, 2-4 minutes.
6.  Add the spinach to the pan and cover just long enough for it to start to wilt.
7. Add the contents of the pan to the bowl and toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Creamy Gnocchi with Mushrooms

I would've preferred to have done this with homemade gnocchi, but we were short on time and energy, so I just grabbed a packet of gnocchi from the grocery store. The authors note that refrigerated or frozen gnocchi can be used here, but the shelf-stable vacuum-packed stuff tends to work best for this recipe.

Creamy Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Kale

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2016

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c. vegetable (or mushroom) broth
• 55g Parmesan, grated
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 450g vacuum-packed gnocchi
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 450g cremini mushrooms
• 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
• ~12 black kale leaves, chopped
• 1/4 c. fresh basil, torn

Directions

1. Whisk broth, Parmesan, cream, nutmeg, and pepper together in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter over medium-high heat.
3. Add gnocchi and cook until lightly browned (~5 minutes). Transfer to a plate and set aside.
4. Melt remaining 1 Tbsp. butter in same skillet over medium-high heat.
5. Add mushrooms and salt and cook until golden brown (~10 minutes).
6. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant (~30 seconds).
7. Add kale, broth mixture, and gnocchi and bring to a simmer.
8. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened and kale is wilted (~7 minutes).
9. Sprinkle with basil (and extra Parmesan, if desired) and serve.

Gnocchi with Sausage & Baked Parmesan Crisps

Hello Fresh strikes again! This one took quite a while to put together, but wasn't particularly difficult, just time-consuming, and it was delicious.

Ingredients

• 2 large shallots, peeled, quartered and coarsely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 500g sausage meat
• 30mL balsamic vinegar
• 30mL tomato paste
• 370mL crushed tomatoes
• 3mL sugar
• 1kg fresh-packed gnocchi
• a bunch of fresh basil, coarsely chopped, or equivalent lightly dried basil
• 50g baby arugula
• 128mL freshly grated parmesan

Procedure
All these components can be done more or less in parallel; if you start the parmesan crisps early, you can remove them from the oven and let them cool while cooking the rest of it, and if you start the gnocchi at about the time the sauce enters the simmering stage, you can buffer the first batch of gnocchi in the sauce rather than needing a separate plate.

1. Parmesan Crisps
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Arrange parmesan in four piles on the paper.
4. Bake until bubbly and starting to brown, 4-5 minutes.
5. Remove and let cool.
2. Sauce
1. Heat a medium-to-large pot over medium heat.
2. Add 15mL oil and the shallots. Cook until softened, 4-5 minutes.
3. Add vinegar, garlic, and sausage. Cook, breaking up sausage and stirring often, until sausage is cooked through, 4-5 minutes.
4. Add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, sugar, and 250mL water. Stir together and simmer on medium-low until it thickens slightly, 10-20 minutes depending on taste.
3. Gnocchi
1. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add 30mL butter and half the gnocchi; cook, stirring occasionally, until gnocchi is golden-brown, 8-10 minutes. Buffer the gnocchi -- in the sauce if it's already simmering, on a plate otherwise.
3. Repeat with another 30mL butter and the rest of the gnocchi.
4. Combine gnocchi and sauce.
5. Stir in arugula and basil. Serve with parmesan crisps.

Did you know that gnocchi is actually pretty easy to make? And incredibly delicious? And actually reasonably nutritious? Especially when you make it with bright, flavourful, colourful sweet potatoes! I need to write this recipe down because we will be making it again.

Honestly, I'm craving it again already...

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Greens and Sage Butter Sauce

Slightly adapted from Pinch of Yum

Ingredients

Gnocchi

• 450-500g sweet potatoes
• 1 c. whole milk ricotta
• 1/4 c. Parmesan
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• ~1 c. all-purpose or hard/strong/bread/high grade flour

Greens and Sauce

• 1 small broccoli crown, cut into florettes
• 1 small bunch black kale, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried sage (or ~6 fresh leaves)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4 c. Parmesan
• pepper, to taste
• lemon wedges, to serve (optional)

Directions

Gnocchi

1. Prick sweet potato(es) with fork, wrap in damp paper towels, and microwave until tender. (~5-7 minutes)
2. Scoop flesh from skin. Discard skins.
3. Mash flesh with ricotta, Parmesan, and sea salt.
4. If the mixture seems dry, add a couple Tbsp. of water to loosen it up.
5. Mix in flour ~1/4 c. at a time until a soft dough forms.
6. If you like your gnocchi soft and light and pillowy, try not to work the dough too much and handle the resulting dumplings very gently as they'll be prone to breaking up. If you like your gnocchi firm and chewy, knead the dough to develop the gluten a little.
7. Working on a floured surface, form the dough into a loaf.
8. Cut a slice from the loaf and roll it into a rope.
9. Cut the rope into ~2cm pieces.
10. Repeat with remaining dough.
11. Boil the gnocchi until it floats and toss with a little olive oil to prevent sticking. Reserve the cooking water.

Greens and Sauce

1. Once the gnocchi has been boiled, add the broccoli and kale to the boiling water and blanch for 1 minute. Drain and set aside.
2. Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a large pan.
3. Add the gnocchi and cook until outside is brown and crisp.
4. Add garlic, broccoli, kale, sage, and salt and cook for another few minutes.
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
6. Stir in cream and Parmesan.
7. Add pepper to taste.
8. Serve with lemon wedges if desired.

Chicken bacon pumpkin gnocchi

Based on a recipe from Nutmeg Nanny, this produces an extremely heavy and filling dish of gnocchi in a rich, creamy pumpkin sauce. The chicken didn't detract from it but didn't contribute much either; we'd probably leave it out (or replace it with something else) next time.

The original recipe calls for bacon; we did it with spicy pancetta.

Ingredients

• 1 pie pumpkin
• 1kg vacuum-packed gnocchi (2 packets)
• 400g pancetta, chopped into small chunks
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
• 250g cream cheese
• 250mL freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 10mL smoked paprika
• 2.5mL cayenne
• 2.5mL garlic powder
• 250mL half and half cream
• a bunch of green onions, finely sliced

Procedure

1. Bisect the pumpkin, extract the guts, brush the exposed face with olive oil, place face down on a baking sheet, and bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until fork tender.
2. Peel the pumpkin and mash the flesh to produce 300-400mL of pumpkin purée.
3. Set a pot of water to boil (for the gnocchi) in the background.
4. Set a large, deep skillet or nonstick pot over medium heat. Cook the pancetta in a bit of olive oil, until well browned but not quite crisp. Remove to a plate of paper towels with a slotted spoon.
5. Add the chicken to the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook until cooked through. Remove to the same plate as the pancetta.
6. Add the cream cheese, and stir gently until it starts to melt.
7. Meanwhile, cook the gnocchi according to package directions.
8. Add the pumpkin puree, parmesan, paprika, cayenne, and garlic powder. Stir to combine.
9. Stir in the cream.
10. Stir in the gnocchi, chicken, and pancetta. Cook for ~5 minutes to warm the chicken and gnocchi through.
11. Stir in the green onions.
12. Eat!