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This pillowy, cloud-like English Pea Gnocchi is served with a flavorful white wine, butter and herb sauce, freshly shelled peas and grated Pecorino Romano.
This post is sponsored by Geyser Peak Winery. All opinions are my own.
I’ve said it many times here before: I’m a big pasta fan. It’s one of my favorite meals of all time- I will never say no to a big bowl of carbs- and that includes gnocchi.
If you’ve never had homemade gnocchi before, please make yourself some ASAP. These pillowy potato dumplings taste like heaven and you’ll be thanking me. Plus they’re really fun to make and much more low maintenance than making homemade pasta.
I’m partnering with my friends at Geyser Peak Winery today to bring you this lovely English Pea Gnocchi served with a white wine, herb and butter sauce. Their grassy, citrusy 2018 Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc is an ideal wine choice for the sauce, and then to serve with this meal afterwards!
I always say you should cook with a good quality wine that you wouldn’t mind drinking. The overall outcome of your meal will be that much better for it. The warmer climate of Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County produces a fuller style Sauvignon Blanc, which gives it some extra texture and length, making it a great wine for using in a buttery sauce. You can find this wine available for purchase at Geyser Peak Winery!
What is gnocchi?
I’m happy to report that making gnocchi from scratch is really not difficult! And it tastes so much lighter and fluffier than a pre-made version you can buy at the store. I find the pre-made gnocchi to be heavy and dense compared to the homemade kind.
Gnocchi is made up of cooked potato, flour, egg and salt. That’s it! It gets mixed together to form a dough, then rolled out into long tubes and cut into cute little pillow shapes. Then they are boiled in salted water until they float to the top (which only takes a couple of minutes) and tossed with your favorite sauce.
Tips & Tricks for making gnocchi
Here are a few tips I’ve found that really help when making homemade English Pea Gnocchi:
- When boiling the potatoes, be careful not to overcook them, because if they absorb too much water the gnocchi can become gummy and dense. Remove the potatoes from the water as soon as a fork pierces them easily.
- I prefer to use “type 00” flour for my gnocchi, the same flour that is used in Italian cooking to make pasta and pizza dough. More finely milled than all purpose flour, it will give your gnocchi that light, cloud-like texture. However, if you don’t have “type 00” flour all purpose is fine to use too.
- Boil the gnocchi in batches so that they don’t stick together. They are finished cooking as soon as they float to the top. Don’t leave them in the cooking water for too long afterwards or your gnocchi can become mushy.
- I like to use a slotted spoon or skimmer to gently lift them out of the pot of water. The gentler you can handle this dough throughout the entire process, the better.
- I also suggest reserving some of the starchy water and add a little bit to your white wine butter sauce to help stretch it out.
How to make English Pea Gnocchi
The white wine, butter and herb sauce comes together so easily for this English Pea Gnocchi. Melt a bit of butter in a skillet and add minced shallot. After about a minute, pour in the white wine and simmer until it is reduced it by about half. This will cook off the alcohol but retain the wonderful flavors. Next, add a little more butter to add some body to the sauce, as well as lemon juice for freshness. At the very end, add the gnocchi, peas and herbs and toss together gently along with a small ladle of the reserved cooking water.
Blanch the peas separately and quickly cool them in an ice bath to retain their vibrant green color. See here for tips on how to blanch peas. Using thawed frozen peas would also work. Adding them at the end along with the herbs will help them keep a nice vibrant color. You want to coat everything together with the sauce just until it’s warmed through.
Serve this English Pea Gnocchi with a crisp, refreshing glass of Geyser Peak Dry Creek Valley Sauvignon Blanc for a memorable meal. The easiest way to perfectly pair your wine to your meal is to drink the same wine you used for cooking- so make it a good one! The bright, citrusy notes that this wine lends to the butter sauce will be echoed in your glass!
Thanks for reading! To keep up with me in the kitchen, follow me on Facebook,Instagram,TwitterandPinterest.
If you make this English Pea Gnocchi, share it and tag #LePetitEats! And check out Geyser Peak for all your summer Sauvignon Blanc needs!
5 from 1 vote
English Pea Gnocchi
This pillowy English Pea Gnocchi is served with a flavorful white wine, butter and herb sauce, shelled peas and freshly grated Pecorino Romano.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword gnocchi recipe with peas, homemade gnocchis recipe, pasta with peas
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 650 kcal
Author Denisse
Ingredients
- 2½ pounds russet potatoes about 4 large, scrubbed
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt plus more
- 1 egg beaten to blend
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 1 shallot minced
- 1 cup white wine
- Juice of one lemon
- 1 cup cooked green peas
- 1/4 cup fresh chives minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley minced
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
Instructions
Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling water over medium-high heat until tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 25-30 minutes; drain. As soon as potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and pass through a potato ricer into a large bowl. Let cool.
Sprinkle 1¼ cups flour and 2 teaspoons salt over potatoes and, using your hands, make a well in the center. Pour egg into the well and stir in with a wooden spoon. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and gently knead, dusting with more flour as needed, until smooth but not elastic (be careful not to overwork), about 2 minutes.
Divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a 12″-long rope about 1″ thick. Cut into 1″ pieces, dust with flour, and arrange in a single layer on a lightly floured rimmed baking sheet.
Working in batches, cook gnocchi in a large pot of boiling salted water until they float to the surface, about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove from pot and transfer to a bowl.
Add half of butter to a skillet over medium-low heat. When butter has melted, add shallot and cook for 1 minute. Add wine and bring to a simmer. Cook until wine has reduced by half, then add lemon juice. Add remaining two tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of reserved cooking liquid, gnocchi and peas, tossing gently to coat gnocchi in sauce. Cooking just until peas are warmed through, about 1-3 minutes. Remove from heat and add chives, parsley and Pecorino Romano. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently once more. Divide into bowls and serve with more Pecorino.
Recipe Notes
- When boiling the potatoes, be careful not to overcook them, because if they absorb too much water the gnocchi can become gummy and dense. Remove the potatoes from the water as soon as a fork pierces them easily.
- I prefer to use“type 00” flourfor my gnocchi, the same flour that is used in Italian cooking to make pasta and pizza dough. More finely milled than all purpose flour, it will give your gnocchi that light, cloud-like texture. However, if you don’t have “type 00” flour all purpose is fine to use too.
- Boil the gnocchi in batches so that they don’t stick together. They are finished cooking as soon as they float to the top. Don’t leave them in the cooking water for too long afterwards or your gnocchi can become mushy.
- I like to use a slotted spoon or skimmer to gently lift them out of the pot of water. The gentler you can handle this dough throughout the entire process, the better.
- I also suggest reserving some of the starchy water and add a little bit to your white wine butter sauce to help stretch it out.
