I’m in love with this gnocchi
Pasta (and carbs in general) bring me so much joy. So much so, that I do this weird thing where I will let myself make and have a pasta dish once a week, but instead of making it the first night after getting groceries, I save it for last so I have something to look forward to. It’s like when you’re eating Gardetto’s and you only let yourself eat the spiced rye crackers every so often to prolong the best part.
Anyway, is gnocchi even pasta? Technically, it is, though flour isn’t the main ingredient like we expect from the usual noodle suspects. And there are different types of gnocchi, but one of the most common one you’ll find and see in recipes is actually made from potatoes.
Gnocchi isn’t something I make very often, but knowing that my grocery store sells it fresh and that I can create a magical dish with it in 20 minutes has me hooked. I truly enjoyed how charred the Brussels got (actually let them cook undisturbed!), and the fact that the gnocchi is only sauteed and browned in the pan, rather than boiled in water (easier and more interesting). I was even worried about properly browning the butter, or burning it, but it happened so naturally with the heat of the pan.
Crisp Gnocchi with Brussels Sprouts and Brown Butter via NYT Cooking
Bentley’s Way
My gnocchi package was 13 ounces instead of 16 like the recipe requires, but I still used the full amount of all other ingredients. It worked out really well that I almost worry about using more pasta than this in the future.
I zested two lemons with a micro-plane instead of peeling and finely chopping.
My previous choice may have lowered the lemon flavor, so I chose to finish the dish by squeezing the juice from one of the lemons after I removed the pasta from heat.
Definitely taste as you go and at the end. This will need more salt than you may want to add, but it’s a necessary move to enhance the overall flavor and get this dish where it deserves to be.
Full disclosure, I did a halo of Parmesan mostly for the photo. I hate how it hides the final product when you sprinkle on top!