When You Need A "Shelf Stable Genius" Recipe, Grab The Gnocchi
Those Little Packages Of Pre-made Gnocchi Save the Weekday Dinner
We live a pretty busy life around here, what with work (now that the Strike is over) and since the pandemic I’ve been cooking, brewing, baking, canning, and fermenting almost everything we eat here. Sometimes it can be a bit too much and then I go looking for tasty shortcuts. I always saw those little packages of pre-made gnocchi on the market shelves and wondered who the hell bought that stuff. Like a good little Italian I always made my own gnocchi. Pumpkin with brown butter and sage was one of my favorites
But even though those gnocchi don’t take much time, these gnocchi are hypersonic!
So okay, here’s a very simple straight offa the shelf recipe. I have a couple that involve more but we’re talking fast here, right? Right.
Here’s What You Need:
1 package of shelf stable gnocchi, that’s your hero here! At 2.99 a package, damn straight it’s a hero!
1 box of fresh prewashed baby spinach leaves
1 cup of frozen peas
4 oz of chopped pancetta
1 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs unslated butter
1 shallot thinly sliced
Parmesan Romano cheese for grating
Here’s What To Do:
In a large skillet heat the olive oil. When it’s hot add in the chopped pancetta and cook until it’s starting to crisp.
Remove the pancetta with a slotted spoon and place it on a plate lined with paper towels. Set it aside.
Add the shallot into the pan and saute it in the renderings from the pancetta.
Now add the 2 Tbs of butter and as it starts to melt and foam, add the gnocchi to it.
Stir the gnocchi around so they cook on both sides, they’ll start to turn golden brown. This takes about 4 minutes.
While this is going on add in the raw spinach leaves, and stir that around until it wilts. Also toss in your frozen peas
Keep cooking the gnocchi, for about another 2 minutes. If the gnocchi starts to get too dark or burn, at any time just add more oil or butter. You want crispy outside, but soft on the inside.
Add your chopped pancetta back in. Stir everything to combine.
Dish it up with a generous grating of cheese over each serving.
And there you have it. Lunch in a hurry, that looks like you worked a LOT harder.
Coming up next, I share a special party dish from the Indo-Nepalese Kitchen that is on the table for a LOT of events at our house, and it’s very very simple
Meanwhile, I’m always around for questions and comments and requests, just give me a shout out, and remember, over here it’s okay to play with your food!
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Gnocchi with capers and chili crisp is delicious! I’ll have to try this recipe.
I have never ever tried these and this looks SO good, and immediately inspires ideas for variations. Many thanks!