Cabbage gnocchi with walnuts, fennel seeds and balsamic vinegar, a quick and simple vegetarian dinner that is both delicious and hearty.
This quick and simple 15 minute vegetarian dish makes the most of autumnal ingredients and some store cupboard favourites.
Quick Vegetarian Gnocchi Dinner
Potato gnocchi really are great at changing up preconceptions of fast mid-week meals.
They can do full-on comfort food like my cheese-laden Gnocchi alla Sorrentina recipe, sausage gnocchi in tomato sauce or balsamic mushroom gnocchi bake. But they are also great for using up vegetables and making a quick and light meal.
That is where this recipe lives, it uses up some leftover cabbage leaves and mixes that with store-cupboard herbs and a few nuts.
In many ways, this gnocchi recipe is a partner recipe to my savoy cabbage pasta recipe. You could even use gnocchi in place of noodles in my lazanki recipe!
It is insanely quick weighing in at a shade over 10-12 minutes and it is packed full of great autumnal flavours.
Walnuts are a wonderful earthy addition alongside the bright verdant savoy cabbage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use homemade gnocchi?
Yes, of course. You can use both homamade potato gnocchi or you could use the much simpler to make ricotta cheese gnocchi.
What is the best store-bought gnocchi to use?
I personally am not fond of the “shelf-stable” gnocchi that you buy in vacuum-packed “bricks” in the supermarket. I would usually buy them from the refrigerated aisle.
Can I use other types of cabbage?
Yes, this works with white cabbage and hispi cabbage really well.
If you have left over cabbage how about making up a batch of my cabbage and white bean soup?
Can I use other types of nut?
Yes, I have substituted walnuts with pecans and hazelnuts and both work really well.
Can I use oil instead of butter?
You can but you do get a very different flavour. I would use alight olive oil or even a mix of olive oil and groundnut oil.
Serving Suggestions
More often than not this cabbage gnocchi dish forms a quick vegetarian one bowl dinner for me.
Although I will often serve it with a little garlic bread, because, well it’s garlic bread and any excuse is a good one.
But it also works really well as a side dish too!
It is superb with pork, it owuld work wonderfully with my pork chops with pear, and if you sub the balsamic vinegar with cider vinegar the sauce works really well as well.
It is also fantasic with my bacon wrapped pork tenderloin. Sticking with the bacon theme, it is also wonderful with my bacon wrapped cod.
Even a simply roasted chicken breast is great with this simple gnocchi recipe.
Equipment Used
I only name-check specific equipment brands if I think they make a material difference to a recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Stovetop.
- 20cm or 8″ saucepan.
- 30cm or 12″ frying pan with a lid.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- Colander or sieve.
- Weighing scales and or measuring cups and spoons.
- Stirring and serving spoons.
Cabbage and Walnut Gnocchi Recipe
This quick cabbage and walnut gnocchi recipe uses store cupboard favourites to rustle up an insanely tasty 15-minute vegetarian meal.
Ingredients
- 400g (14 oz) Potato Gnocchi
- 50g (3 Tbsp + 1 Tsp) Butter
- 250g (8-10 Outer Leaves) Savoy Cabbage
- 50g (⅓ Cup) Walnuts
- 1 Tbsp Fennel Seeds
- ¼ Tsp Black Pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
- 10g (2 Tbsp) Parmesan Shavings
- Salt for Boiling Gnocchi
Instructions
- Finely shred the cabbage.
- Bring a 20cm or 8" saucepan of generously salted water (1½ teaspoons of salt for a pan this size) to a boil.
- Whilst the water comes to a boil heat a 30cm or 12" frying pan over a medium-high heat.
- Add the butter to the frying pan and as soon as it begins to foam add the walnuts and fennel seeds and toast for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly to prevent anything from burning.
- Add the cabbage and black pepper to the frying pan, stir well to combine, then cover with a lid, and cook for 4 or 5 minutes.
- Throw the gnocchi into the pan of boiling water and cook until it begins to float which should take 2-3 minutes at most.
- Drain the gnocchi and add it to the pan with the cabbage.
- Turn the heat up to high and add the balsamic vinegar.
- Toss to coat for 60 seconds and serve with the Parmesan shavings.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
2Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 813Total Fat: 41gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 117mgSodium: 314mgCarbohydrates: 96gFiber: 10gSugar: 3gProtein: 20g
Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.
Brian Jones
Sunday 31st of January 2016
Thanks Tamara, I have learned a little more since I posted this pretty much at the inception of my site... I now have a 5 minute rule, if the food aint photographed in 5 minutes it does not get photographed and I have to make it again, means that peace rules and we eat food when it is at its best.
Brian Jones
Wednesday 19th of August 2015
Thanks Diane, we have a strange climate here in Hungary with blisteringly hot summers and brutally cold winters so double cropping is almost impossible beyond the very quick salad crops, but our brassica crops seem to be doing well although we typically stumble with cauliflower late in the season no matter what we do... Gnocchi certainly needs some starchy spuds to get it nice and light, russets work wonderfully, it is a recipe that needs to be done by feel as all potatoes are different and flours too, so it is just a case of knowing what feels right and then going with it :)
Brian Jones
Thursday 16th of April 2015
I am sure it will get boring eventually as they usually come from our garden or that of a neighbour :) For Gnocchi go for something mealy and floury, I use Desiree as the work exceptionally well in our soil but a King Edwards or Idaho would work superbly too, avoid waxy salad type of potatoes.
Brian Jones
Thursday 16th of April 2015
Ha ha :) I think many of us grew up with a notion of cabbage that was boiled until it was almost grey and had a slimy texture and made the house smell terribly. This is very fresh, and still retains a little crunch as it is only cooked for minutes and it pretty much steams which means it keeps its beautiful colour... But I am biased as I love cabbage in all it's forms!
Thanks for the welcome