Skillet Gnocchi with Roasted Red Peppers and White Beans

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

It makes the most of super convenient pantry ingredients. Recipes that rely on ingredients with a long shelf-life are helpful for busy weeknights. That’s why I like to keep a package of gnocchi, cans of beans and roasted red peppers in my kitchen. You can throw a meal together with them.

This recipe is wonderful year round. Again, it celebrates ingredients you can stash in your pantry. Also, roasted red peppers give you a much-needed boost during the cold weather months, but this recipe still makes sense during the summer because of its quick cook time.

You can make this gnocchi in 15 minutes. Also, the ingredient prep isn’t overwhelming either. That’s why I have this on my regular weeknight dinner rotation.

Kale is an easy way to add wholesome greens. You can take advantage of the heat in the pan. It only takes a few minutes for the kale to soften. Then, for those people who don’t get excited about kale, there is so much more in this gnocchi recipe that they end up being more of a supporting ingredient.

What is Gnocchi?

These Italian dumplings are made with potatoes, flour, egg yolks, Parmesan, salt and pepper. While I like making gnocchi from scratch for a cooking project, they are very easy to find at the grocery with the dried pasta, even though they technically aren’t noodles. You can toss gnocchi with basil pesto or tomato sauce and treat them like you would with pasta.

The Ingredients

This is what you need:

• Gnocchi: The recipe calls for a 1-pound package of potato gnocchi. You can substitute with cauliflower gnocchi or another gluten-free version to suit your dietary preferences.
• Roasted red peppers: Since they come in jars packed in liquid, use a fork to take out the peppers and then chop them. You can substitute with sun dried tomatoes.
• White beans: You can use cannellini beans, great northern beans or navy beans. It’s up to you. Cannellini are the largest, and navy are the smallest. Great northern are somewhere in the middle.
• Kale: I like the sturdiness of kale with the weight of gnocchi. You can use lacinato kale or curly kale. Strip the leaves off the stems, and then roughly chop them.
• Garlic: Four minced cloves may sound like a lot, but with this amount of ingredients, it all balances out.
• Onions: Before the garlic and spices make it into the skillet, I sauté chopped onions. They are the starting point of the aromatics.
• Parmesan: I stir grated Parmesan cheese into the gnocchi once the dish is finished. The heat melts the cheese pretty quickly. You can also garnish it with more cheese once it’s been plated and is ready to serve.
• Red pepper flakes, salt & pepper season the dish.
• Parsley: Besides parmesan, I also stir chopped parsley into the gnocchi.

How To Make Skillet Gnocchi

1. Cook the gnocchi. Follow the recommended cook time on the package and simmer them in salted boiling water.

2. Sauté the onions. Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Give the onions 4-5 minutes to start to soften.

3. Stir in the garlic, roasted red peppers and kale. Keep sautéing for 2-3 minutes until the kale softens.

4. Add the gnocchi, white beans, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir everything together. The beans will warm in a few minutes. Fold in the Parmesan and parsley.

Serving

A salad is an obvious choice for this gnocchi main dish.  Try an arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette or an Italian chopped salad. You can also add a piece of crusty bread or a slice of focaccia.

Leftovers & Storage

You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days. Warm them in the microwave or in a skillet over medium heat on the stove with a splash of olive oil. Another option is to eat leftovers like a pasta salad and toss them in vinaigrette with greens such as chopped kale or romaine.

Recipe Tips

Either drain the liquid from the jar of peppers or use a fork to get them out. What you don’t want is to add a bunch of extra moisture to the skillet, so that’s why this is important.

If you want, you can overlap simmering the gnocchi and sautéing the rest of the ingredients in the skillet. Since this recipe cooks fast, I recommend having the pot of water for the gnocchi boiling before you start. 

You can top the finished dish with either grated or shaved parmesan for garnish. To get those super-thin slices, use a vegetable peeler or a knife.

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