Cauliflower Gnocchi with Spicy Tomato Sauce
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Cauliflower gnocchi in arrabbiata, a delicious spicy Italian tomato sauce. This is an easy, meatless dish that cooks in one pan in just 15 minutes.
Let’s talk for a minute about the food phenom that is cauliflower gnocchi. Maybe you’ve brought home a bag of these pillowy wonders recently.
Are you now looking for a tasty sauce to go with cauliflower gnocchi? You’ve landed exactly in the right place.
This is a recipe using store-bought cauliflower gnocchi, and it’s so good! The dish takes about 15 minutes to make and it cooks in one skillet. What could be better?
You end up with creamy-textured gnocchi in a super-tasty tomato sauce, boosted with garlic and spicy red chili.
What are cauliflower gnocchi?
Cauliflower gnocchi look just like their original starchy counterpart, which are bite-size potato dumplings traditionally made with wheat flour, mashed potato and egg.
Instead, these gnocchi are made without any of those ingredients. There was a lot of fuss in the foodie-sphere when TJ’s frozen cauliflower gnocchi first appeared in the market back in April 2018.
That’s because for those who avoid fluffy pasta, a product made with cauliflower satisfies many otherwise verboten cravings.
Ingredients in cauliflower gnocchi
Depending on the brand, ingredients listed on the package usually have:
- Cauliflower
- Cassava flour
- Potato starch
- Sea salt
- Extra-virgin olive oil.
Yes, I’m that person who makes homemade gnocchi at the drop of a hat! Aside from that, I happen to love cauliflower in all forms. So, put those two facts together and I kind of needed to try them out.
The best sauce for cauliflower gnocchi
For sure, we have to admit that the charm of any kind of gnocchi is that they have a comfortingly soft texture.
But let’s face it — they’re on the blander side, taste-wise. Plain gnocchi cries out to be covered in tangy, spicy sauce.
Enter arrabbiata (A-Rah-Bee-Ah-Ta) sauce!
What is arrabbiata
The word arrabbiata in Italian roughly translates as “in the angry way.” In Italian cooking, an all’arrabbiata dish means there’s a heck of a lot of red chili in the tomato sauce.
It’s basically a spicy-hot tomato sauce, usually made with a handful of ingredients.
How spicy is arrabbiata sauce?
The beauty of making homemade arrabbiata sauce is that you can adjust the level of heat by using more or less chili to suit your taste.
If you follow the recipe below, you’ll find the sauce is moderately hot, but it won’t knock your taste buds into a fire zone.
How to cook cauliflower gnocchi
If you use frozen gnocchi, there’s not much prep you need to do for this recipe. The gnocchi go straight from freezer to pan, no need to thaw.
- First, slice onion, grate or finely slice some garlic and red chili.
- Grab a 10-12″ nonstick skillet and add the frozen gnocchi and water. Cover and cook for a few minutes, then add the sauce ingredients and stir.
- Allow everything to simmer for another 5 minutes. The sauce will cook down and meld with the starch in the cauliflower to make a thick sauce.
Do you have favorite way to prepare cauliflower gnocchi? Leave me a comment below and let me know!
Cauliflower Gnocchi in Spicy Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 12-ounce (350 g) package frozen Trader Joe's cauliflower gnocchi
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) water
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 fresh red chili, chopped
- 1/2 cup (80 g) thinly sliced onion
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped or grated garlic
- 1 teaspoon crushed red chili, or to taste
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 (400 g) 14-ounce can whole or crushed tomatoes
- Chopped Italian parsley and grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese, optional
Instructions
- Empty the package of gnocchi into a large nonstick skillet (no need to thaw). Add the water, cover the pan and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook exactly 6 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients (except for the parsley and cheese) and stir. Bring to a simmer, then lower the heat, cover and cook 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens a bit and the gnocchi are tender but not falling apart (don’t overcook).
- Serve warm in bowls sprinkled with parsley and cheese, if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.