This pan-fried gnocchi with cranberry-tomato sauce is a fusion of flavors and cultures. Here, we blend Italian tradition with Scandinavian influences. Yet, it's those Scandinavian cranberries that bring a North African warmth, reminiscent of raisins in a tagine. A spicy sweet-and-sour combination with the savory tomatoes and herbs. The walnuts and pan-fried gnocchi provide the perfect bite. We finish with an Italian touch in the form of grated Parmesan.
gnocchi with cranberry sauce
Ingredients
- 500 grams gnocchi
- 1 onion yellow
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 chili pepper red
- 1 can diced tomatoes 400 grams
- 100 grams cranberries
- 50 grams walnuts
- oregano
- thyme
- sage
- salt
- Parmesan grated
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion, chili pepper, and garlic.
- Coarsely chop the walnuts.
- Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté the onion, garlic, and chili pepper for a few minutes.
- Then add the chopped tomatoes, walnuts, herbs, and cranberries, along with a pinch of salt.
- Let this simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, pan-fry the gnocchi in butter in a pan until golden brown.
- Divide the gnocchi among deep plates and top them with the cranberry-tomato sauce.
- Finish with grated Parmesan.
Notes
Nutrition
How to make pan-fried gnocchi with cranberry-tomato sauce?
Short on time after a busy workday? You can whip up this vegetarian surprise in less than half an hour. So, it's totally doable for anyone!
The preparations
We don't need much prep work. We just need to finely chop the onion, garlic clove, and chili pepper. After that, we can start chopping (the walnuts) and cooking right away.
But let's start with the onion. Remove the ends and then halve the onion. This way, we can easily peel off the skin. Then, we chop the onion into small pieces.
We crush the garlic clove with the flat side of a kitchen knife. We also remove the skin and then finely chop the clove.
Finally, we cut the stem off the chili pepper. Then, we chop it into small pieces. For a milder version, you can first halve it lengthwise and remove the seeds.
Lastly, we coarsely chop the walnuts. This creates the perfect bite for this vegetarian pan-fried gnocchi with sweet-and-sour sauce.
Cooking the gnocchi with cranberry-tomato sauce
Now, we place two pans on the stove. In the pan for the gnocchi, we melt a generous knob of butter. In the pan for the cranberry-tomato sauce, we heat olive oil.
In the oil, we first sauté the garlic, onion, and chili pepper for a few minutes until the aromas are released. Then, we add the chopped tomatoes, cranberries, walnuts, and herbs (oregano, thyme, sage). Let this simmer gently for ten minutes. Add a splash of water if needed.
In the other pan with the butter, we now fry the gnocchi for ten minutes. This gives them a nice crispy crust.
After ten minutes, both the sauce and the gnocchi are ready. We first divide the crispy Italian pan-fried gnocchi onto the plates. Then, we spoon over our Scandinavian-North African sauce with cranberries, tomatoes, and chopped walnuts. The finishing touch is Italian again, with some grated Parmesan.
About cranberries
Some people claim that cranberries are the healthiest food in the world. Healthy they are for sure. If you want a long discussion, mention this at the table!
Cranberries grow in the northern latitudes, in cooler regions. That is why I associate them always with Scandinavia, more specifically Finland. But they are also very popular in North America and Canada.
Are you interested in some other recipes with cranberries? Some ideas on surprising.recipes:
About gnocchi
Everybody knows that gnocchi are a typical Italian pasta type. Even the name could not be more Italian. People also call them potato pasta, as they are normally made from potatoes.
Please check also this surprising gnocchi recipes.
If you speak Dutch, you can find the Dutch version of this recipe on gerechtenweb.blog.
Jamie Lin says
This sounds amazing!
toondebacker says
thank you! it really is 🙂