Thursday, March 05, 2009

Gnocchi in the skillet...

I knew today was going to be pretty hectic here later in the day, so I made sure to schedule a dinner that was not going to by fussy or make too much of a mess! Looking through the pantry while I was menu planning, I spotted some gnocchi we had waiting to be used and remembered that I had been wanting to try out this Skillet Gnocchi with Chard and Chickpeas dish.

Instead of boiling the gnocchi to prepare them, this recipe took them in a different direction by sautéeing them until those dumplings began to plump up and turn golden brown. The gnocchi are then scooped out of the pan and in their place went a little more olive oil and a handful of thinly sliced onion. After stirring the slices around the pan for a couple minutes, a healthy amount of minced garlic was stirred in, along with heavy splash of water. Once the onion had softened, sturdy chopped leaves of swiss chard were added and allowed to cook until they began to wilt down.

Diced tomatoes, seasoned with Italian spices, chickpeas and fresh ground black pepper loosen up the chard mixture and are left over the heat until the juices begin to bubble. The dumplings are added back into the pool and the full skillet is finally topped off with grated Parmesan and shredded mozzarella cheeses. Covering the pan to trap the heat, this dish needed just a couple more minutes to melt the cheese and bring the gnocchi back up to temperature.

We thought this deserved bonus points right out of the gate for using one skillet the entire time and being able to finish the dish in under half an hour! The original recipe called for using white beans, like cannellini or Great Northern, but as I've learned from past experience, Jeff really doesn't care for them one bit. Knowing that, I used chickpeas instead and that did the trick for him here! Pretty filling as is, if you feed people that don't think a meal is a meal without meat, I bet you could easily crumble and brown some hot Italian turkey sausage and toss that in at the end with the gnocchi. If you're not a fan of chard, you could certainly use spinach in its place or how about turning up the volume by using blanched broccoli rabe? While we don't make a ton of recipes more than once or twice, I can see this versatile and veggie-friendly dish being made around here often when need a speedy meal!

4 comments:

  1. Oh My God - thanks so much for the recipe. I had gnocchi for the first time, some time back and if ever there was a wholesomely delicious dish then this is it. You have to eat it to know what I'm saying. I'm trying it out tonight...it works wonders for the body and mind.

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  2. All those delightfully round shapes on one plate? My god, that looks good. I keep thinking pine nuts would make a nice textural tweak, too.

    I want that now.

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  3. Samantha - :)

    Lisa - Hmm... good call on those buttery nuts!

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  4. You're a genius! I've never been able to like gnocchi. But to saute it is a whole different ball game. I never thought to do that and can absolutely see how I would love it that way! My version will have cannelini beans and spinach, and the pine nuts!

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