Maybe it’s because I grew up on small, chewy matzo balls rather than big, fluffy ones. Or perhaps it’s my adult penchant for mochi, boba and spaetzle. But given a choice, I’ll take a dense, elastic texture over an airy, cloudlike one almost every time.
So, it’s not surprising that I have an outsize love for shelf-stable supermarket gnocchi.
Canonically, properly made gnocchi are fluffy and light, holding their shape just long enough to dissolve into a savory billow as they hit your tongue.
Shelf-stable gnocchi, on the other hand, are compact and firm, more like what the Italian word “gnoccho” originally meant, as Marcella Hazan will tell you.
In what has become a bible of Italian cuisine, “The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking,” she describes a gnoccho as “a little lump, such as the one that might be raised by sharply knocking your head against a hard object.” Yet gastronomically speaking, she declares, “gnocchi should be anything but lumpish.”
This may be true when it comes to making gnocchi from scratch. But toss those shelf-stable lumps in oil, then roast or pan-fry them until their edges turn brown and crisp and their insides molten and chewy, and heretical though it may be, that’s my idea of perfect gnocchi.
Crispy shelf-stable gnocchi are obviously quicker to make than homemade. Since they’ve already been par-cooked, you don’t even have to boil them. Just transfer the dumplings from the package to a pan and turn up the heat.
I go the sheet-pan route in this recipe, roasting gnocchi alongside Italian sausages (you can use pork, poultry or plant-based) and sweet bell peppers to make a rich, savory one-pan meal. I also add a handful of cherry tomatoes to melt in the pan with everything else for a juicy element that’s almost like a sauce. A mix of hues for the tomatoes and peppers would make for a bright, colorful dish, which is especially welcome this leafless time of year.
The dish is hearty and satisfying enough to serve on its own, though spooning it on top of a bed of arugula or baby spinach would lighten everything and bolster the vegetable content.
Either way, that chewy-crisp texture is my gnocchi ideal. If that’s so wrong, then I’m more than happy to take my lumps.
