Gnocchi with Sweet Pea & Mushroom Cream Sauce

I recently ordered a book about making pasta on Amazon. I had to try potato gnocchi recipe! I’ve been always wanting to make gnocchi from scratch and I was quite surprised that it is actually easy to make. I combined 2 different recipes from the book below and from Michael Chiarello’s recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/michael-chiarello/potato-gnocchi-recipe.html

In Michael Chiarello’s recipe, russet potatoes were baked but I boiled them since I was afraid that the dough will get too crumbly from baked potatoes. Boiled potatoes worked well for me. I added chopped chives when mixing the grated potatoes, eggs and parmesan cheese. Next time, I think I will experiment the dough with ricotta cheese! Getting excited already…. : )

I cut the rolled dough into these nice little pillow looking gnocchi! Make sure to throw a little flour onto the work surface so that the dough doesn't stick when you roll it into a snake shape. I added gnocchi in boiling water for about 3 mins until they float to the top. Any leftover dough can be kept in the freezer. If you like more crunchy texture, I recommend that you boil your gnocchi for 2-3 min first, drain it and sear them on the pan with a bit of butter (Add the gnocchi when the butter has melted and starting to turn to slightly brown color). I actually prefered the pan seared gnocchi. It had nice crunchy texture outside and soft, fluffy inside!


Mushroom & Sweet Pea Cream Sauce Recipe

Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon cream cheese, 3 tablespoon parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup frozen sweet peas, 1 cup sliced button mushroom (I think hen of the woods mushroom will be really good too), 1 tablespoon minced garlic, chopped chives for garnish

  1. Set a saute pan over medium high heat then add olive oil and the butter. Once the butter has melted, saute minced garlic and sliced mushroom until the mushroom becomes slightly golden brown.
  2. Add the cream into the mushroom and when the cream starts boiling add the cream cheese and parmesan cheese. Make sure the cream cheese is mixed well with the cream sauce. Add frozen sweet peas and season it with salt and pepper.
  3. Let the cream reduce by half (about 4–5 min). If you like a little bit of kick into it, you can add a pinch of cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes.
  4. Toss the gnocchi (boiled then drained gnocchi) in the cream sauce. Garnish with chopped chive on top.