Gnocchi with gorgonzola and cream sauce

gnocchi di patate

The Italian people will of course know what gnocchi are but some of my English friends may not be 100%  sure. Well… let me “educate” you: they are little potato and flour dumplings, which you boil in salted water and then dress with any sauce you like (as you would with pasta). You can buy them in many supermarkets in the UK  BUT they are not a patch on the homemade variety. I find the ready-made ones rather hard and stodgy, to be honest. The home made ones, on the other hand, are ever so light and fluffy. I had only made potato gnocchi a couple of times before in the past , previous to this attempt that is, and that was AGES  ago (and one had been a disaster!) so I decided the time had come to have another bash at it. …I was surprised how easy it was to make them and they really tasted great (or I wouldn’t be blogging them, would I?) so here I am sharing the recipe with you. There are many varieties out there: with potato and spinach, pumpkin, nettles (yes! Nettles!) but I decided on the plain,traditional ones. Who knows? I may branch out in the future and attempt different types. The recipe I used is pretty bog standard. The sauce  I dressed them with is a bit rich, I admit, but you can use a simple tomato sauce if you prefer.

P.S. Happy birthday to Laura (Candi’s daughter). 18 today!!!!! :-)

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people)

For the gnocchi:

750 g floury potatoes

1 egg yolk

125 g plain flour

salt and freshly ground black pepper

50 g parmesan, finely grated

For the sauce:

250 ml single cream (double is even nicer but unfortunately it has many more calories!)

125 g gorgonzola cheese, crumbled 

1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg

METHOD

Steam the potatoes in salted water (whole, without removing the skin) in a large saucepan. When they are cooked, peel and mash them until  smooth.

Add the egg, flour and salt and pepper, stirring together to form a soft dough. Knead gently on a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into four and roll each piece into a long sausage shape about 2cm in diameter and cut each one into 3cm sections. Gently press it on a fork or a cheese grater to mark the surface. Place in a single layer on a floured baking sheet.

For the sauce put the cream and Gorgonzola in a small saucepan on a low–medium heat. Once the cheese has melted, simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Season to taste with pepper and nutmeg.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the gnocchi in batches for 2–3 minutes. They will rise to the surface when cooked. Remove each batch of gnocchi from the water drain well and place in a large ovenproof dish.

Pour the Gorgonzola sauce over the gnocchi and toss. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Place under a hot grill until golden.  Serve immediately.

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3 Responses to “Gnocchi with gorgonzola and cream sauce”


  • Lucina! Che ricettone hai postato… non posso distrarmi un attimo e guarda un po’ che compiti mi porgi su un piatto d’argento!!! Sai che anch’io ho sempre avuto un po’ paura a fare i gnocchi? Mi ricordo da piccola una volta che mia mamma aveva usato un tipo di patate acquose e non finiva più di aggiungere farina per venire a capo di quella pasta umidiccia e appiccicosa. Adesso però mi fai venire voglia… Tra un po’ poi arriva l’autunno, potrà essere un bel modo per usare la zucca…
    Tornata a casa, devo “disboscare”, sono perfino in ritardo con la torta di compleanno di Laura, che naturalmente finirà sul blog (è in forno ora ora)…

  • Oh yes! I had a similar misdemeanour with one of my previous attempts! For the same reason as your mum. I ended up with something resembling wallpaper paste which ended up in the bin! That put me off for YEARS! But if you make sure you use the right potatoes and steam them with their skins on that solves the problem! What was Laura’s cake like?:-)

  • Niente male, il post arriva…

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