This deliciously Creamy Tuscan Gnocchi will become your new favourite pasta dish. Soft, tender pillows of gnocchi enveloped in a full-flavoured cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, spinach, parmesan and fresh basil. All cooked in one pan!
THE ultimate comfort food! Even if you don’t particularly like creamy sauces, you will fall head-over-heels for this one pan gnocchi recipe. Quick and easy to make, ready on the table in less than 15 minutes, you will struggle to believe it wasn’t cooked by a Tuscan chef!
GNOCCHI RECIPE
You loved the flavours in our Garlic Butter Tuscan Shrimp, Creamy Garlic Tuscan Salmon and our Creamy Tuscan Chicken, NOW it’s time to shine a light on our silky, smooth Tuscan Gnocchi. So damn good, your guests will think you have a professional chef hidden away in your kitchen.
Not only is this recipe full of Tuscan flavours, but it’s also remarkably easy. Now, before you tell me this is not a traditional Tuscan dish – don’t worry, I’m aware! It is however, very popular in Olive Garden, so Potato – Potartoe right?
HOW TO COOK GNOCCHI
Speaking of potatoes, this recipe requires zero hard labour; that means no mincing potatoes for fresh gnocchi. Instead, we opted for uncooked dry gnocchi which can be found in your supermarket.
You’re going to:
FRY your gnocchi in garlic butter first. Fresh or homemade gnocchi will not work and may turn to mush in the sauce.
ADD the sun dried tomatoes and let them release their flavours.
POUR in the chicken broth, cream and herbs. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan – browned bits equal flavour!
MIX everything together, reduce heat to medium and cover pan with lid.
COOK for 5 minutes. The starch released from the gnocchi thickens the sauce while cooking.
WILT the spinach leaves in the sauce. Stir through parmesan.
SIMMER until gnocchi is soft and the sauce has thickened.
Serve immediately.
The sauce thickens as it cools. If not serving immediately, add extra cream or chicken broth just before serving to thin it out a little
WINE SELECTION
I chose a white wine to pair with this. A light Chardonnay or Pinot Gris pairs really well. For a sweeter wine, choose a Riesling or a Sparkling Moscato.
SOME TIPS:
- Remember to use dry gnocchi and add it uncooked!
- Heavy cream, thickened cream or half and half work well in this recipe. Half and half is an American product, made from equal parts light cream and milk. Feel free to use half light cream and half 2% milk (or full fat if not worried about calories), in place of half and half. Alternatively, use all light cream if you wish.
- I use sun dried tomato strips in oil. When draining them, reserve about 2 teaspoons of the jarred oil for added flavour when cooking.
MORE RELATED RECIPES
Slow Cooker Gnocchi Sausage Kale Soup
Creamy Tuscan Chicken (Low Carb)
Creamy Buttery Tuscan Gnocchi Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
- 1 brown shallot chopped or 1 small onion
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 pound uncooked potato gnocchi the dry packaged gnocchi - not fresh
- ½ cup sun dried tomato strips in oil jarred, reserve 2 teaspoons of the jarred oil for cooking
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cups heavy cream thickened cream or half andf half
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
- 1 pinch salt to taste
- 1 pinch pepper to taste
- 1 ½ cups fresh baby spinach
- ½ cup parmesan cheese fresh grated
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil or parsley
Instructions
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt the butter and sauté shallots until transparent, about 2 minutes. Sauté garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the gnocchi and let sear in the butter for a minute. Add the sun dried tomatoes and reserved oil. Cook for a further minute to release flavours into the gnocchi.
- Pour in the chicken broth, cream and Italian herbs. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything together and reduce heat to medium. Cover pan with lid and let cook for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the spinach leaves and cook until wilted, about 1 minute.
- Stir through parmesan cheese and chopped basil. Let simmer for a further minute or until gnocchi is soft, cooked through and the sauce has thickened to your liking.
- Season with a little extra salt & pepper, if needed, to suit your taste.
- Serve immediately.*
Notes
- Add uncooked dry gnocchi as it cooks right in the sauce! The starch released from the gnocchi thickens the sauce perfectly while cooking.
Allison says
This is such a wonderful delicious recipe! I love that it’s one pot. So much faster and easier than cooking gnocchi separately. My friends always request this for dinner parties. I usually change up the recipe by using pancetta instead of sun dried tomatoes and spinach, although those main ingredients sound great! Omit the salt if you use pancetta!
Matt Smith says
I make this recipe often, the problem I usually have is in the 5 min cook stage, or reheating leftovers in the microwave, the cream sauce can break, causing it to be very greasy. To avoid this, juice a lemon, neutralize the acid with baking soda until it stops fizzing, and mix this neutralized lemon juice to the cream before adding it to the sauce. This acts as an emulsifier (sodium citrate) that prevents the cream sauce from breaking.
Ash says
Extremely delicious. I followed the recipe exactly and let me tell you, I did NOT want to share. Will be a regular for dinner. Thank you! Try this, you won’t be disappointed
Tricia says
Absolutely delicious. So quick and easy. I typically tweak all my recipes but I didn’t need to change anything. The whole family loved it.
Scoot says
Loved it, I would modify it some our tastes. Would add a little more broth and a little less cream. Also I would use a little less sun dried tomatoes but this is nit picky. Over all a great dish and very rich.
E says
I love making this dish. I usually add sliced sausage or shredded rotisserie chicken to make it more of a hearty one dish meal.
Cajun Cook says
Very good recipe, thanks! My entire family enjoyed it, even the pickiest eater. I was short on time so added less cream and used a bit of bouillon for flavor instead of broth that would add more liquid and need to be reduced. We plan to make this again, quite rich so best to serve with a steamed vegetable or something else simple.
Traci says
This was amazing next time I will add some prosciutto for added flavor. Thanks for another great recipe to add to my nightly rotation.
MC says
Made some basic basic changes, added chicken strips I sautéed earlier. Complete meal!
Laurie says
Absolutely wonderful! Followed the recipe to the letter , except cooked fresh gnocci and added to the sauce in the last 5 minutes of it cooking..delicious..thank you!!