Italian
The Frugal Foodie
From
The Frugal Foodie
season
1
episode
7
Avocado Gnocchi with Spinach and Pinenuts
With
Steph De Sousa
Pan-fried gnocchi in a creamy avocado and spinach sauce with toasted pine nuts.
SERVES
4
About this recipe
Justine Schofield's pan-fried gnocchi tossed with a quick avocado-and-cream sauce, wilted baby spinach and toasted pine nuts. The avocado loosens the cream into something silky and green; the pine nuts bring the bite. Italian-leaning, twenty minutes flat.
The avocado-as-cream-extender is the modern Australian cooking instinct that uses the local stone fruit to add body and richness to pasta sauces without needing pure dairy. The fat content of the avocado (around 15 to 20 percent of the flesh) gives a creamy mouth-feel similar to mascarpone or cream cheese, the slight grassy-vegetal note adding a different depth than dairy alone. Blitz with a splash of cream and lemon juice into a pourable sauce.
Pan-frying the gnocchi (rather than the traditional boil-and-toss method) is the technique that gives the dish its specific textural complexity. Pre-made gnocchi from the supermarket refrigerated section, tossed straight from the packet into a hot pan with butter and oil, develops a crisp golden surface on each piece while the interior steams through. The crispy exterior contrasts with the soft sauce in a way that boiled gnocchi can't manage.
The pine-nut toast is the small Italian household step that lifts the dish. Pine nuts spread on a dry pan over medium heat, stirred regularly for three to four minutes until they go light golden and smell of marzipan; cooled briefly before scattering over the dish. Burnt pine nuts ruin a dish; under-toasted ones taste flat. Baby spinach wilted into the sauce at the last minute, lemon zest, black pepper and a generous shower of grated parmigiano. A glass of cold Vermentino.
Ingredients
- 1 x 400gm packet of fresh World Kitchen Cheese Gnocchi (refrigerated section of supermarket)
- 1 large tbsp Pure Valley Butter and The Olive Tree EVOO
- 1 small Brown Onion diced
- 1 tsp Stone Mill crushed Garlic
- 2 ripe Avocados
- 300ml Pure Valley thickened Cream
- 1 handful Fresh Salad Co. Baby Spinach
- 2 tbsp Oh So Natural Pine Nuts
- Squeeze of fresh Lemon
Method
1. Gently toast the Pine Nuts in your frying pan and set aside
2. On a medium heat add the Butter and extra virgin Olive Oil, and Onion and sautéing for a minute.
3. Add the fresh Gnocchi to the pan, cooking for about five minutes until golden on all sides and soft to touch (there is no need to boil it first)
4. Add the Garlic.
5. Dice Avocado into 2x2cm cubes and add to the pan along with the Garlic tossing to gently cook and soften.
6. Pour 300ml of thickened Cream into the pan and cook for a further 5-10 minutes on a high temperature until reduced and thickened, add a little Salt and Pepper and a squeeze of lemon.
7. Remove from the heat and stir through the Baby Spinach
8. Serve in four bowls, sprinkle Pine Nuts on top.
9. Keywords
10. one pan avocado gnocchi, avocado gnocchi, gnocchi avocado recipe, gnocchi recipe, gnocchi dish recipe, one pan meals, one pot meals
Steph De Sousa
Steph De Sousa cooks as The Frugal Foodie, building recipes around what's already in the pantry and the produce nobody wants to throw out. Her style is straightforward and budget-aware without being austere: roast vegetable peelings, second-day rice, a freezer worked properly. She brings practical home rhythms to Savour and Wander.
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