creamy gnocchi with sausage
For a few weeks now, I’ve had a specific image in my head of a dish that didn’t exist yet. In short, it was essentially a pillowy carb with a yellowy-orange sauce, crumbled meat, and some greens: in other words, what you see above.
It took me a long time to understand exactly what it was that I was craving. Not quite a pasta rosa, not quite a “Marry Me” chicken, not exactly a pasta, but not a soup or beans, either. I tried a lot of different things, and I kept coming back to a dish Evan made me many months ago called Zozzona.
Evan very rarely cooks dinner and when he does, it’s usually steak. A few months ago, he came across a pasta dish that looked so good, he actually planned an entire dinner around it, even going out himself to buy Guanciale. The dish was Zozzona, and it’s a unique Roman pasta made with tomato, cheese, Guanciale, Italian sausage, and — get this — egg yolks.
Zozzona is a cross between Amatriciana, Carbonara, and Gricia, and results in a dish that is altogether spicy, creamy, silky, and rich. I didn’t title this gnocchi dish as such because it isn’t quite Zozzona and I don’t want anybody to rightfully point that out and ruin my day. It doesn’t have guanciale and it includes spinach, making it a sort-of-kind-of totally different thing — thus the generalized title.
If you haven’t had Zozzona yet, this will essentially give you a good idea of what the dish is, but with pillowy, melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi. I’d urge you to try the original Roman dish, too, which is delicious and easy (As I said, Evan cooked it!) There’s something really comforting about this dish to us, and I’m excited to share this gnocchi version with all of you.
Some things to know
While my version doesn’t include Guanciale like a Zozzona would, you are more than welcome to add that, bacon, or pancetta before browning the Italian sausage.
I urge you to cook the Italian sausage until it’s very browned — almost a little bit crispy. The wine will lift all of the browned bits off of the bottom of the pan, so don’t be afraid to cook until the sausage sticks.
I’ve made this with sliced chicken sausage and I do not think it is the same. I highly encourage using the crumbled, hot Italian sausage as suggested. Vegetarians, of course, are welcome to omit it.
If you really, really don’t want to use egg yolks, you could just add heavy cream instead; but this results in a thicker, more rich, more rosy-colored pasta. I tried it and it isn’t the same, but it’s enjoyable. I thought it was too rich with the gnocchi, but made a decent enough substitute.
Parmesan can be substituted for Pecorino. I’m extremely not picky about this. I’ve even used half Parm, have Pecorino with delicious results. The only thing I will insist is to purchase a block and grate the cheese yourself: The pre-grated will not work the same way and will lead to a less smooth sauce.
Finally: Reserve 1/2 cup of gnocchi water just in case you need it. Once you dump it out, you can’t get it back, so have a little extra in case you want a thinner sauce or, God forbid, you mess up the eggs.
Enjoy.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 pound gnocchi
2 cups baby spinach
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound ground hot Italian sausage
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup tomato passata
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
1/4 cup reserved gnocchi water
Pinch of salt and pepper
RECIPE
Bring a pot of salted water to boil and add the gnocchi. Cook until gnocchi floats, about 3 minutes, or to package instructions. Fresh gnocchi will cook faster. Reserve 1/4 to 1/2 cup gnocchi water. Add the spinach, swirl into the water until bright green, and drain. Set aside.
While the gnocchi boils, heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add oil, then add the Italian sausage and crumble while browning, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 more minutes. Sausage should be deeply browned.
Add the wine and, while simmering, scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Simmer for 3 minutes, or until wine is reduced by half. There should still be some liquid in the skillet, but the sweet alcohol scent should be gone.
Add the tomato passata and stir to combine. If boiling, turn the heat down to medium low, or until tomato mixture is gently simmering. Cook for 5 minutes, or until thick and almost paste-like.
While the tomato sauce thickens, prepare the eggs. Whisk eggs and cheese in a bowl until a paste forms. See below for photo.
While whisking, add 1/4 cup gnocchi water slowly to temper the eggs. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to the mixture.
Begin stirring the tomato sauce. While stirring, stream in the egg mixture slowly, incorporating while you stir. Mixture will lighten in color and become silky.
Immediately add the gnocchi and spinach and toss together with the sauce.
Grate fresh Pecorino or Parmesan over gnocchi to serve.
This is how the egg and cheese mixture should look before adding the gnocchi water.
This is what the tomato mixture should look like before adding the eggs.
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