I came across a gnocchi recipe in an old Food & Wine recently, and decided to make a version of it using whole wheat gnocchi I’d bought in a shelf-stable package a few months ago.
Even though it was made with (mostly) whole wheat, they still cooked up light enough to suit my case (I hate heavy, dense, gnocchi).
The recipe was from Paula Wolfert, whose many cookbooks focus on the Mediterranean region, and are packed with luscious recipes.
So, working backwards, you first see the finished dish at the table. I also roasted some plump shallots and the first local asparagus of the season (see last photo, shallots went in the 425° oven first, followed by peeled aparagus about 10 minutes later, ~30 mins total.)
For the gnocchi, I made the pancetta and radicchio sauce in the biggest skillet I had, and in place of the milk and cream called for, I used up some mascarpone I had, thinned with a little of the starchy cooking water from the gnocchi. (I only used gentle heat once the mascarpone went in, worried that it might break if I used higher heat.)
I’d picked up domestic Gorgonzala at ShopRite, because it was convenient, but would have preferred a creamier, imported version. (But maybe it would not have been worth the extra effort and expense here?)
That creamy sauce was mixed in with the gnocchi and topped with breadcrumbs, pine nuts, and Parmesan.
A beautiful sight to behold! And so delicious, I didn’t mind eating the leftovers for the next 5 days! This was, for me, an unusually involved dinner – the kind of cooking I seem to have less and less time for.
It felt great to do this, but now that summer’s really around the corner, I probably won’t cook like this again for a good long time!
NJ SPICE 