Creamy pesto gnocchi
This creamy pesto gnocchi is an easy one pot meal that can be made in under 30 minutes. Tangy sun dried tomatoes and wilted spinach are added to this gnocchi recipe to give it even more flavor.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 9 oz gluten free gnocchi
- 1 cup spinach
- 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes
- pesto (as desired for garnish)
Creamy pesto sauce
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup pasta water
- 1/4 cup pesto
- 1 cup parmesan cheese (vegetarian parmesan-style cheese)
- 1 tsp cornstarch (plus 1 tsp cold water)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- salt (to taste, depends how much you salt your pasta water)
Instructions
- Cook the gnocchi according to the instructions on the box. Different types of gnocchi will need to cook for different amounts of time, but most gnocchi will only need to cook for a few minutes. When the gnocchi floats to the top of the water, that means that it is done.
- Wilt the spinach. You can either throw the spinach in the pot with the gnocchi right before you drain the gnocchi, or you can put the spinach in the strainer you use to drain the gnocchi before you drain it. Pouring boiling water over the spinach should be enough to wilt it.
- Heat the cream over medium heat in a pot. Mix the cornstarch with equal parts cold water in a separate container, then add the cornstarch and water slurry to the heavy cream. Add the black pepper to the heavy cream then heat the heavy cream for another minute or two. Stir the cream occasionally.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and let it cool until it is warm but not hot. Add the pesto and the parmesan cheese to the sauce and stir the sauce until the parmesan cheese melts.
- Combine the gnocchi, cream sauce, spinach, and sun dried tomatoes then serve. If you want a stronger pesto flavor, you can put a few extra dollops of pesto on top of the gnocchi.
Notes
Sauce consistency. The creamy pesto sauce for this gnocchi will be rather thin, which is perfect for gnocchi! If you prefer your gnocchi to have a thicker sauce, you can add more cornstarch to your sauce to thicken it more. The exact amount of cornstarch you will need to add will vary depending on the consistency you want to achieve, but we recommend adding additional cornstarch 1/2 tsp at a time and waiting a minute or two to see how the consistency of the sauce is affected before adding more. Remember to always mix cornstarch with equal parts cold water before adding it to the sauce. Pasta quantity. When we make this creamy pesto gnocchi, we generally use a 9 oz package of gnocchi. That being said, this recipe makes enough sauce that you will be fine if your package of gnocchi contains more like 10 - 12 oz of gnocchi. Sticking with one pot. If you only want to dirty one pot when making this dish, you should make the pasta sauce in the same pot that you used to boil the pasta. There is no need to clean the pot between making the pasta and the sauce. The additional starches on the pot will just help to thicken the creamy pesto sauce.