Cinnamon Butter Gnocchi: Recipe from Veneto (2024)

FAQs

What do Italians eat with gnocchi? ›

A classic choice for saucing gnocchi is a simple combination of butter and sage, but the possibilities are endless. Simpler sauces like pesto, marinara and vodka are good choices, as are heartier sauces like Bolognese, cheese and cream sauces. Since gnocchi is fairly neutral in flavor, it pairs well with most anything.

The gnocchi (pronounced nyok-ee) go way back to Roman times. They were made from semolina dough, mixed with eggs. Roman legions spread the dish throughout the the European region where they have conquered and it became a peasant delicacy as the gnocchi was inexpensive, easy to prepare, and filling.

Potato Gnocchi Substitutes:Pasta: If you're making a pasta dish, you can substitute gnocchi with various pasta shapes, such as penne, rigatoni, or farfalle. These will provide a similar starchy texture.

Nutritional Value

Believe it or not, regular pasta is actually more carb-heavy than gnocchi, coming in at around 2 times the amount of carbs per serving. Gnocchi is also notorious for having a lot more sodium, with over 200 grams of it per serving. Regular pasta doesn't have nearly as high of a sodium content.

Thanks to their pâte à choux base, Parisian gnocchi can actually turn out lighter and more tender than their Italian counterpart. Once the dough is made and transferred to a piping bag, it's piped over simmering water, using a knife to cut off each individual gnocchi.

Gnocchi, a substantial, high-calorie dish, was prepared on Thursday in anticipation of Friday, when, according to Catholic tradition, people fasted, abstaining from meat. On Friday, Romans traditionally ate fish-based dishes, such as chickpeas and cod, a dish still served on Fridays in the old-fashioned Roman taverns.

Gnocchi can be a good source of carbohydrates, fiber, and certain vitamins and minerals, especially if made with whole wheat flour or added vegetables. The calorie content of gnocchi can be higher than regular pasta due to their potato content and potential additions like butter or cream in sauces.

While the best Italian gnocchi are light and pillowy, Parisian-style gnocchi are even lighter, and far easier to make. While boiling them in the style of Italian gnocchi is a great way to cook them, you can also fry the gnocchi in a skillet to be used as a blank palate for any number of seasonally-based pasta dishes.

In Venice, gnocchi is also known as "macaroni." Made from a base of flour, milk, and eggs cooked and shaped into little discs, they are baked in the oven with butter and cheese. It's an almost identical preparation to Lazio's famous gnocchi alla romana: round, flat discs of cooked and cooled semolina.

Gnocchi in Verona

While Gnocchi wasn't invented in Verona, the medieval city on the Adige River in northern Italy is certainly the place that's embraced it the most. The dish itself is remarkably simple – just a plate of little soft dough dumplings with a sauce.

What day is Gnocchi Day in Italy? ›

“Giovedì gnocchi, venerdì pesce, sabato trippa.” So the saying goes in Rome, that Thursday is gnocchi day, Friday is fish day, and Saturday it's tripe! It's not hard to understand the “venerdì pesce” – this is a Catholic country after all.

If you're looking to swap the pasta for something healthy, gnocchi may not be the best option. Go for a protein-enriched pasta choice or a low-carb, gluten-free substitute, like zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash instead.

The downside is that boiling can result in gummy, waterlogged gnocchi if you cook them too long. This is more of an issue when boiling store-bought gnocchi than with homemade ones. Frying gnocchi in a little butter or oil takes more effort, and the dumplings will be crisp on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside.

Egg yolk added to your gnocchi dough helps improve texture, and keep it together while cooking. Gnocchi is traditionally made with eggs in Veneto and no eggs in Piedmont, the two Northern Italian regions famous for gnocchi. We vote for egg yolks at the rate of 1 per (500g) 1 lb of uncooked potatoes used.

In Piedmont, ravioles are a type of gnocchi made with cheese from the mountain, while chestnut flour and pumpkin gnocchi are called gnocchi ossolani. The term gnocchi also includes those made with semolina flour such as gnocchi alla romana or gnoches de gries.

Unlike potato gnocchi, Roman gnocchi (Gnocchi alla romana), are made with semolina instead of potatoes and flour, that's why they are also called Semolina gnocchi. Roman gnocchi are shaped differently than potato gnocchi.