Gnocchi Pan Recipe with 3+ Variations of Pesto

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Now I would like to introduce you to my Gnocchi Pan Recipe. A seasonal dish that delights with its simplicity.

In spring I am very excited, then I can go to the forest and collect wild garlic.

Fortunately I don’t have far to go for it. If you can’t collect wild garlic in this time of year, just buy it.

In summer and autumn I switch to basil pesto and in between I process carrot green into a wonderful sauce.

You can prepare the gnocchi for our dish yourself. So only tested quality comes on the plate!

Stay culinary inspired – I hope you enjoy cooking!

1. Recipe Gnocchi Pan

Gnocchi Pan with 3 Variants Pesto

Cooked, photographed and written down by chef Thomas Sixt.

Servings 2
Calories 538
Total Time 50 Min.
Preparation Time 30 Min.
Cook Time 20 Min.

Simple tutorial for the preparation of a gnocchi pan with 3 different types of pesto.

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Gnocchi Pan Recipe
Gnocchi Pan Recipe Image © Thomas Sixt

Ingredients

Gnocchi basic recipe

500 g floury potatoes (e.g. Ackersegen or Bintje)
150 g flour (this is also available gluten-free.)
1 pc egg
3 pinches Salt
3 pinches nutmeg

Pesto

10-20 pc wild garlic leaves (alternatively carrot green or basil)
100 ml oliv oil
2 tbs pine nuts (alternatively walnuts, cashews or almonds)
2-3 tbs parmesan (finely grated)
2 pinches Salt
2 pinches Pepper

Serving

20 g clarified butter
50 g grated parmesan

Instruction

Gnocchi basic recipe

Boiled potato and grater
Boiled potato and grater

Prepare potatoes

To make the gnocchi dough, cook floury potatoes as jacket potatoes for about 20 minutes.

Pour off the cooked potatoes, let them evaporate and let them rest over night.

The next day, remove the skin from the tubers.

Place a suitable high saucepan on the stove with about 2 litres of water and add 1 tablespoon of salt.

Bring to the boil.

Grate the potato
Grate the potato

Grate potatoes

Now grate the cold potatoes with a tower grater or put them through a potato press.

Grated potato
Grated potato

Dough

Pick up the potato mixture with the dough scraper and place in a mixing bowl.

Gnocchi dough - the ingredients - in the bowl
Gnocchi dough – the ingredients – in the bowl

Add ingredients

Add the grated potatoes with flour and egg. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Gnocchi dough
Gnocchi dough

Knead dough

Quickly knead the mixture with your floured hands and form a dough ball.

Gnocchi dough roll
Gnocchi dough roll

Shape dough

Sprinkle some flour on a large wooden board and roll sausages as thick as a man’s thumb out of the dough.

Cut the gnocchi dough
Cut the gnocchi dough

Cutting dough

From the dough sausages now cut off approx. 1 cm large pieces with a sharp knife.

Shape the gnocchi with a fork
Shape the gnocchi with a fork

Gnocchi formen

Either press in the gnocchi pattern with a long fork or roll the dough buttons over the back of the fork.

Boil the gnocchi floating in salted water
Boil the gnocchi floating in salted water

Cook gnocchi

Put the gnocchi into the boiling water and let them steep for about 2-3 minutes.

Lift the gnocchi out of the salted water with the skimmer
Lift the gnocchi out of the salted water with the skimmer

Gnocchi ready

Scoop the small dumplings out of the water with a skimmer.

Wild garlic pesto

Fresh wild garlic
Fresh wild garlic with flowers for wild garlic soup with fish

Prepare herbs

Clean fresh wild garlic.

Roasted pine nuts in the pan
Be careful when roasting, pine nuts burn quickly!

Roast nuts

Roast the pine nuts dry in a pan.

Wild garlic pesto while mixing - recipe picture (c) Thomas Sixt.
Wild garlic pesto while mixing

Mix

Crush wild garlic leaves, oil and roasted pine nuts with a hand blender.

Season with salt and pepper.

Pesto in the bowl
Wild Garlic Pesto

Pesto ready

Put the wild garlic pesto aside.

Finalize Dish

Grated parmesan
Freshly grated parmesan.

Prepare Cheese

Finely grate the parmesan.

Gnocchi with wild garlic pesto in the pan
Gnocchi in Pan with pesto and Cheese before serving.

Finalize gnocchi

Heat the clarified butter in a pan.

Add the freshly cooked gnocchi to the pan and lightly toast them.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the wild garlic pesto to the gnocchi.

Lift the dumplings out of the gnocchi pan with a tablespoon and place them on the plate.

Sprinkle the grated Parmesan cheese over the gnocchi and enjoy!

Courses

Cousine

2. Calories and Nutritional Values

3. Tips for Making Gnocchi Yourself

The dough for homemade potato dumplings consists of grated or finely pressed, cooked potatoes.

The list of ingredients is clear:

  1. Floury, boiled potatoes
  2. One quarter to one third flour as a proportion
  3. One egg (optional)
  4. A little bit of salt
  5. Freshly grated nutmeg

I have already published the step by step instructions elsewhere: Have a look at Making Gnocchi yourself. Try it out, it’s easy and fast!

The Gnocchi Basic Recipe brings homemade small dumplings into your kitchen. © Thomas Sixt Food Photographer

4. Tips for Quick Gnocchi Pan …

If you don’t have time to knead the dough, you can also buy the potato gnocchi in the supermarket or in the Italian Alimantari specialty shop. Uncooked goods are better than pre-cooked ones, but at the same time I would prefer Italian brands in the selection.  

Purchased gnocchi are second choice, but still delicious! Bought gnocchi, if you just want it to be quick.

5. Pesto in 3 Varieties for Gnocchi Pan

For this dish I have already prepared three sauce variations for you, maybe more will follow. Please let yourself be inspired by the market offer and enjoy the following ideas…

Wild Garlic Pesto

Well, wild garlic pesto is not ready in the cooler. A homemade wild garlic pesto is therefore something very special!

In Germany the bear’s garlic is in season from March to the end of May. With a little luck you can even get fresh bear’s garlic in the supermarket. Maybe you will also visit the local weekly market and find what you are looking for there.

In spring I go to the local deciduous forest or mixed forest. There the bear’s garlic grows best. It really doesn’t get any fresher than that!

So that confusion with the poisonous lily of the valley, for example, is impossible, please smell the plant: it smells delicately of garlic!

Fresh wild garlic
Fresh wild garlic with flowers for wild garlic soup with fish
Keep wild garlic pesto in a jar
Wild garlic pesto or basil pesto are great accompaniments to this dish. It takes about 12 minutes to prepare!

Basil Pesto

We know this delicious basil sauce mostly through a popular dish, the spaghetti with pesto genovese.

You need lots of fresh basil, roasted pine nuts, olive oil and finely grated parmesan.

The preparation with step by step photos I show you at the recipe Pesto.

Prepared pesto ingredients in a blender jar.Prepared ingredients for basil pesto in a blender jug. The Pesto Recipe shows you how to step by step!

Carrot Green Pesto

I have saved an extremely exciting sauce variant until the end!

It is carrot green pesto and that is really something ingenious!

Yes, you can eat the green of the carrot and it tastes wonderful refined to the cold sauce.

Just try the Carrot Green Pesto and surprise your loved ones with a new creation!

For the Carrot Green Pesto I like to use walnut. Refined with cheese and olive oil this sauce has potential to become a favourite dip. © Thomas Sixt Food Photographer Camera EOS RP

6. Further, Suitable Cooking Ideas

Comments, Cooking Questions and Answers

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