Pan fried gnocchi – crispy, golden and buttery on the outside, soft on the inside, tossed with roasted pumpkin and spinach. This is one of my favourite ways to make gnocchi without blowing my carb meter and making a dreamy buttery sauce without using tons of butter!
Pan Fried Gnocchi
I absolutely adore gnocchi. If I go to an Italian restaurant, chances are I’ll order gnocchi.
I put it above handmade pasta. That’s how much I love it.
And up until maybe a year ago, I was a total gnocchi snob. I would only ever have fresh or homemade gnocchi. Scarred from my uni days when I made store bought gnocchi and it was so chewy and tasteless.
But in the years that have passed, I must say that packaged gnocchi has come a long way and now I happily use packaged gnocchi!
We’re using a sage butter sauce today which is a classic sauce for gnocchi.
What does Gnocchi taste like?
Gnocchi is a potato flour dumpling, so it tastes like a cross between pasta and mashed potato. It’s soft on the inside, and when pan fried like in this recipe, it’s crispy on the outside.
Plain gnocchi, like pasta, does not actually have much flavour in itself. So it’s used with sauces and ideal for add-ins, like pumpkin and spinach which is what I’m using here.
Filling out Gnocchi with Pumpkin
So nowadays, armed with the convenience of store bought gnocchi, the only thing that holds me back from a weekly gnocchi fix is that it’s so high in carbs.
250g/8oz of gnocchi has 90g of carbs, 400 calories. And it’s super dense so it’s only about 1 cup in volume which isn’t enough for a meal (at least, not for me!)
Add a sauce and the calorie count starts hiking up quite considerably….
So to “lighten” it up and fill it out more, I like to add roasted pumpkin which has only 20g of carbs and 85 calories per 250g/8oz, almost 1/4 of gnocchi!
Plus roasted pumpkin is so juicy, it provides more “wetness” to this dish instead of adding more butter.
Adding roasting pumpkin adds flavour as well as filling out the gnocchi dish to make it a filling meal
Butter sauce for Gnocchi
I think a simple butter sauce is the best sauce for gnocchi. But you don’t need tons of butter! If you just make this with loads of butter for the sauce, it’s far too rich.
So the way to make a butter sauce is to add some of the water used to cook the gnocchi. This water is starchy, and when tossed with the butter sauce, the starch in the water reacts with the butter to thicken the water and creates a glossy butter sauce.
It’s how a real proper Alfredo is made, the way restaurants make it, without using tons of cream. 🙂
So I use that same technique to make the butter sauce for this Pan Fried Gnocchi too. So every piece of golden crispy gnocchi is coated in a buttery sauce that actually clings to the gnocchi rather than pooling in the base of the bowl.
You will love this, I promise! Yes it’s indulgent, and yes it’s still carb heavy, but it is lighter than making it without pumpkin. Try this with fresh garden salad on the side, tossed with Balsamic or Italian dressing! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Pan Fried Gnocchi with Pumpkin & Spinach
Ingredients
Roasted pumpkin
- 500g/1lb pumpkin , cut into 2cm / 0.8" pieces
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- Pinch black pepper
Gnocchi
- 350g/12oz gnocchi , store bought (Note 1)
- 50g (3 tbsp) butter , salted (unsalted also ok, just add more salt)
- 1 large garlic clove , finely minced
- 80g / 2.5oz baby spinach leaves
- 1/2 tsp fresh sage , finely sliced
- Salt & pepper
- Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Instructions
- Roast pumpkin – Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan-forced). Place pumpkin in a large bowl, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat, spread out on tray and bake for 20 – 25 minutes, turning once, until golden and soft inside. (Start the gnocchi 10 minutes into the roasting time).
- Cook gnocchi – Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add a good pinch of salt. Cook gnocchi according to packet directions (usually ~2 minutes), or until gnocchi pops to the surface of the water (see video). SCOOP OUT a large mug of cooking water, then drain gnocchi well.
- Toast gnocchi – Place butter in a skillet then put on the stove over medium high heat. Once it foams, add gnocchi immediately. Stir, turn up the heat to high, then leave to cook for about 30 seconds.
- Add garlic and sage, then stir / toss for no longer than 1 1/2 minutes (i.e. 2 minutes in total – see Note 2) until gnocchi is golden on both sides.
- Make sauce – Add 1/2 cup of gnocchi cooking water and toss – the water will evaporate quickly and thicken into a glaze-like sauce that coats the gnocchi (the starch in the water + butter thickens when combined).
- Finish – Then add the pumpkin and spinach and stir quickly until the spinach is just wilted, adding a small splash of the gnocchi cooking water if it looks like the sauce has evaporated (it hasn't, it's just thickened and is coating the gnocchi so extra water will magically recreate the sauce). Taste and add salt and pepper to taste (saltiness of gnocchi depends on brands, so important to try). Toss then serve immediately with freshly grated parmesan.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More gnocchi and gnocchi-type things
Hot tip – Ricotta Gnocchi. Homemade gnocchi in 20 minutes flat! Much easier than the traditional potato gnocchi. The Italians are genius. 🙂
Life of Dozer
Whenever you see a photo of a table laden with food like the one above the recipe card, just know that this fur ball is sitting right underneath it. Always.
Love this recipe with pumpkin or sweet potato and favourite Simply Wize Gluten Free Pumpkin Gnocchi. Decided to try substitute of gourmet mushrooms from Sunday markets. Sauteed mushrooms first then added with spinach. Delicious! I will try with Swiss browns next time (a cheaper option). Quick, easy and tasty.
No need to boil the gnocchi first before frying. Nigella puts it straight into the pan with some olive oil and it browns up beautifully. This is what I do when making this dish. Awesome every time!
It is!! I tried it 2 seconds after I watch Nigella do it 🙂 The gnocchi is not quite as soft inside though. Delicious in a different way! – N x
Had pumpkin to cook and found this ad it was amazing. I had to adjust as I had more gnocchi and less pumpkin and no spinach but it was spinach gnocchi. We added peas.
Perfect! Very easy and it tasted great. Mine didn’t brown, but I loved it regardless
I didn’t use all the cooking water and added mashed roasted pumpkin with a small amount of cream to the sauce. I was also able to pair with truffle gnocchi. I didn’t have sage and added a pinch of dried oregano. Delicious definitely a restaurant worth meal
Aw no, this was very soggy for me, after adding the cooking water. The gnocchi had tasted amazing before that, and I was really looking forward to it. Looking at the video, looks like maybe I should reduce the amount of water I add (used 3/4 and then 1/4 measuring cups worth). Still tasted ok despite this (but was very stodgy), but will try again with less water.
So good!! Cooked this last night and it was delish. My gnocchi didn’t brown up like others have stated. I also crumbled feta and roasted pumpkin seeds over the dish once plated up. This a new regular added to the list! Thanks for another yummy recipe.
It was exactly what I was dreaming for dinner tonight! Love the buttery sage sauce, well balanced and easy to make . My husband lived in Italy and was so impressed with this recipe, thanks Nagi!
Hi Nagi. Can one use your homemade ricotta gnocchi in this recipe?
Thank you.
A favourite, always tasty and easy. I use store bought pumpkin gnocchi (non refrigerated Simply Wize or Ollie’s Kitchen) and sweet potato – the whole 500g gnocchi packet but other ingredients in amounts as per recipe (except extra fresh sage) so 2 generous serves or can serve 3.
I concur with the other comments – gnocchi definitely not crispy. But still totally delicious. I’ll increase the sage a bit next time; very sweet with the pumpkin.
Simple, quick, easy to follow – thank you
Can this be made with your ricotta gnocchi recipe?
Made this again but so interesting reading comments makes variations fun. Used 400g Swiss brown & exotic mushrooms chopped & pre cooked in butter/olive oil, then followed Nagi’s method w garlic, sage, spinach with some toasted pinenuts added. Delicious so thank you everyone.
The gnocchi didn’t crisp up as shown – but it was so delicious noone cared!!!!
Did the pumpkin in the airfryer – brilliant invention, lol
Delicious once again. I use Simply Wize pumpkin gnocchi (it’s gluten free but my choice for flavour). Sweet potato this time and subbed some out for finely diced Swiss brown mushroom (idea from an earlier comment). Very easy esp with Nagi’s recommended timing for each stage.
Oh my. I made this last night and it’s delicious. And easy to do for a single person. One main and a little for lunch the next day.
I’ve sent the recipe to Simply Wise my gf gnocchi go to in Australia. And credited you of course.
I love your recipes. Greetings from Tasmania Australia.
Everytime I search for a recipe idea RecipeTinsEats never fails. This was delish! I had to add feta as ran out of Parmesan and it was still good. I also did chicken on the side but it would have been just as great without.
Everyone a search for a recipe idea RecipeTinsEats never fails. This was delish! I had to add feta as ran out of Parmesan and it was still good. I also did chicken on the side but it would have been just as great without.
Another great meal, I made my own gnocchi, and Nagi’s note on being delicate with it was important. I also dry roasted pine nuts, and crisped up prosciutto – then cut it into slightly bigger than crumb size., and added at the end. Both added a great texture and a tweak to a very popular meal. (making your own gnocchi also keeps it super light, and gets done largely while the pumpkin is roasting)