Kale gnocchi is one of the hot new gnocchi offerings on tap at Trader Joe's this January, but there still aren't a lot of recipes for kale gnocchi. It's the kind of situation where you buy it as an impulse buy, then you plop pesto or marinara sauce on it, and think it's only okay. We've all been there, but I've put several books worth of research into making this interesting way to enjoy TJ's kale gnocchi!
I started by researching flavor affinities for kale in The Flavor Bible, a book that every home cook needs in their arsenal if they are looking to liven up their cooking game. One particular flavor affinity (or really tasty pairing) was: kale + garlic + olive oil + red wine vinegar. That made me think of the brown butter sauces in Pasta Pretty Please, which uses emulsions of butter, vinegar, and pasta water to make a thinner sauce than most are used to — almost as a flavor bath for pasta. It's a way to enjoy pasta and sauce without it being thick. That's something many Americans may not be familiar with if they think pasta automatically = chunky red sauce or alfredo sauces only.
None of the brown butter recipes in Pasta Pretty Please spoke to me on their own, but two on neighboring pages were begging to be combined. Thyme brown butter was my base, but I added in walnuts from the walnut and poppy seed brown butter sauce. Walnuts are another flavor affinity for kale. So this whole recipe is basically a celebration of the other ingredients that love kale the most. Next time, I am going to try it with red vine vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar, as it is supposed to pair with kale even better.
This whole cooking set up looks like a lot of components and work at first, but once you get the first two started you'll relax and feel better about finishing. I was eating this recipe in under 20 minutes, even when I was scribbling down recipe amounts in the meantime.
You may be wondering how kale gnocchi compares to Trader Joe's cauliflower gnocchi and let me tell you: it doesn't. The cauliflower gnocchi, while fine, has a very distinct and not great cooked cauliflower smell that you could taste with each bite, no matter how much sauce you drowned it in. The kale gnocchi has little to no smell, and any smell it does have at least isn't that funky cruciferous smell that the cauliflower version gives off. Hats off Trader Joe's, your sophomore attempt at vegetable'd pasta is a much, much greater success. Maybe they should stop here, or maybe they'll keep on gnocching? Only time will tell. Buy the kale gnocchi and they'll know we love it.
Kale Gnocchi in a Garlic Walnut Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 package kale gnocchi
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 8 tbsp butter divided
- 1 small clove garlic minced
- ½ cup water
- 1 tsp semolina flour
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- ¼ cup walnut pieces
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, heat the apple cider vinegar over medium heat. Turn on the heat and start the timer for 4 minutes. Remove from heat when done.
- In the meantime, put the water in a microwave safe measuring cup and heat in the microwave for 1 minute. When done, stir in the semolina flour and leave in the closed microwave for now.
- Start browning 6 tbsp of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter begins sputtering keep a very close eye on it! This means the browning is beginning.
- Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat the remaining 2 tbsp butter over medium heat. Once melted, add the kale gnocci and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When the butter is browned, remove from heat and mix in the garlic and walnuts. Let rest for 1 minute.
- Stir in the reduced apple cider vinegar, then the starch water, and finally, the cheese.
- Serve by plating the gnocchi, then ladle the broth, getting plenty of walnuts in each scoop, over the kale. Garnish with additional Parmesan cheese as desired. Eat immediately.
While I was at TJ's looking for this, I was also on the hunt for their inside out gnocchi, which was conveniently right beside the kale gnocchi at my local store, and chocolate lave gnocchi. At first I was looking for it next to the others then realized that duh, of course the chocolate was a dessert gnocchi, and would be on the other aisle with all of the desserts. Sadly, I was wrong, and it was nowhere to be found. Since the Trader Joe's cashiers are so friendly, I asked what was up with the chocolate gnocchi, and the fellow who rang me up gave me the bad news: it's been gone since Christmas, as it's a seasonal item. Apparently the season for chocolate gnocchi is only before people start making resolutions, so I'll be waiting til much later this year to try it again, assuming it does come back.
Thanks to the walnuts and the kale, this little dish packs a good nutritional value. You'll want to try this if you're looking to add more greens to your diet in fresh new ways. If you need other kale-tastic recipes, try kale Parmesan salad, or seasoned kale for more of a full-leaf experience. Take your pick for warm kale or chilled kale.