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.
My 14 year old son made this. He loved and and said next time he may omit the pumpkin (he found the cutting hard) and add mushrooms instead. It will take less time and will be easier for him. He felt very proud of his creation and said it tasted like restaurant quality food. Thanks Nagi
Forgot to rate!
Nagi, oh Nagi !
I’ve cooked this three times and not once has my gnocchi browned, or crisped up.
Still delicious, but what am I doing wrong??
try a little pure butter in a med/hot frypan and toss evenly until the gnocchi is nicely browned on each side. It doesn’t take long.
I’ve done other recipes which don’t pre-cook the gnocchi – but only pan fry them. Suspect this would ensure the crisp result. But need to cook a bit longer – and without the cooking water you may need more butter
So good!!!! I ended up pan frying the gnocchi for 3-5 minutes before I added the water and the gnocchi was nice and crispy
Another fabulous recipe. I added a couple of tablespoons of pancetta ‘crumb’ and marinated fetta the second time I made it which was also yummy. Great recipes Nagi!
Store bought pumpkin gnocchi but substituted sweet potato & a little cauli for the pumpkin pieces this time (what was in frig). Delicious again & very easy.
The gnocci water turned magically into buttery sauce. Excellent with a type of pumpkin called here “potimarron”. Thank you for the recipe!
Amazing as always. Tonight we we are cooking with Leggos Pumpkin and Fetta Rav. But i’ll follow your recipe to the T – which I know it will be phenomenal.
This looks delish!!!! I have store bought pumpkin gnocchi that does not require boiling, it just goes into a pan to be pan fried with a sauce – is this type ok for this recipe? 🙂
Amazing 🤩 so flavourful and easy. Love this
I’m glad you enjoyed it Karen! N x
Another cracker, quick an easy meal. I didn’t to sprinkle the parmesan cheese as hubby decided he wanted my homemade Thai Chilli Sauce instead, so I just went along with it. Was still yummy. Thanks once again Nagi xx
My partner absolutely loved this, as did I. I was a bit worried that I overcooked the gnocchi but once paired with the pumpkin it all came together really well. I didn’t have any spinach so I just omitted it but I do think the spinach would be a great addition to the meal. I just used coles brand gnocchi.
Fantastic! Followed to the letter but scaled up to feed 3. Perfect!
Nagi, you have nailed it again!!! This dish is super simple to whip up, but packs an impressive punch. Love, love, love this dish!!!!
Hey Nagi and Dozer,
Just wondering if it is possible to use the freshly made gnocchi that you also have a recipe for on your website or is store bought the better option for the pan fried recipe?
Hi Sweet, you can use the homemade gnocchi – you’ll just need to be a little bit more gentle with it as it’s not as hardy as store bought 🙂 N x
I made this Gnocchi dish last night and it was absolutely delish and super easy too make, it will be a regular meal for us – loved it . Thanks Nagi
Hi Nagi! Is there a substitute for sage? It’s a little difficult to find it in my part of the world.
Marjoram or a little thyme would be great too! N x
Great recipe. I’m going to be one of those food wankers who post about my adjustments to the recipe.
Who even am I.
Damn you 2020.
I am sure the recipe is fabulous as is, but as I don’t have a sweet tooth and find roasted pumpkin Way too sweet for my liking. And yet I had a big chunk of pumpkin in my vege box this week
I simply added some roasted pinenuts (Because crunch and protein) and then used crumbled feta rather than Parmesan, to cut through the sweetness.
(I am so sorry for my pretentiousness but yum)
I don’t leave recipe reviews but have to here! I’ve never perfected gnocchi sauce but this one was so easy and so delicious. Thank you for spelling it all out for people like me who need the help. Can say I used pumpkin gnocchi instead of pumpkin and gnocchi. Also added mushrooms. Really amazing! Thanks for sharing.
That’s great to hear Maddy!! Thanks so much for letting me know ❤️ N x
An absolute gastronomic delight. It was far tastier than the pumpkin gnocchi we had for lunch in a top restaurant. Thank you for sharing.
This is just sooooo good! Huge family hit!!! Thank you
Wahoo, that’s great to hear Rhonda! N x
OH my I have just found my new favourite comfort food.