🌿 Pesto Gnocchi with Cherry Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 lb gnocchi
- 1/2 cup pesto
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- Fresh mozzarella or parmesan
- 2 tbsp olive oil (pantry staple)
- Salt & pepper (pantry staple)
Instructions
- Sear gnocchi in an oiled skillet until golden (no boiling needed), 6–8 min.
- Add halved tomatoes to blister, 2 min.
- Off heat, toss with pesto and top with cheese.
Tips
- Don't boil the gnocchi. Straight from the packet into a hot oiled pan, undisturbed for 3 minutes, gives a crisp golden shell and a pillowy middle — boiled first, they go gluey.
- Add the pesto off the heat. Cooking it dulls and browns the basil and can turn the oil bitter.
- Let the tomatoes actually blister — two minutes over high heat until the skins split. That's when they release their juice and become a sauce rather than a garnish.
Substitutions
- Gnocchi
- Shelf-stable vacuum-packed gnocchi pan-fries best. Fresh chilled works. Cook frozen from frozen, adding a couple of minutes.
- Pesto
- Rocket, sun-dried tomato, or pistachio pesto. Note that traditional Genovese pesto contains parmesan, often made with animal rennet — check the label for vegetarians.
- Cherry tomatoes
- Sun-dried tomatoes, roasted peppers, or peas — something sweet and acidic against the rich pesto.
- Fresh mozzarella
- Burrata, ricotta, or shaved parmesan.
Storage & reheating
Best immediately — crisp gnocchi softens within about 20 minutes. Leftovers keep 2 days and revive best in a hot dry pan rather than a microwave. Don't freeze cooked gnocchi; the texture collapses.
Common questions
Do I really not need to boil the gnocchi?
Correct, for shelf-stable packet gnocchi. They hold enough moisture to cook through in the pan in 6–8 minutes, and the result is better than boiling.
Is pesto vegetarian?
Usually but not always. Parmesan is traditionally made with animal rennet, so strict vegetarians should look for a labelled vegetarian pesto.
Why is my pesto bitter?
Overheated, or the olive oil was blitzed too hard — both cause bitterness. Add it off the heat and stir gently.