Let me introduce you to Gnocchi with Striped Black Cherry Tomatoes.
But did you know that it’s always the recipes that come about by chance, the ones I decide on the spot, that have an unplanned deliciousness, and those are the recipes that give me the most satisfaction?
I dressed the flour gnocchi I made a few days ago with a simple pan of black cherry tomatoes. A main dish that turned out so good, the sauce so tasty, that instead of just showing you the photo at the end of the gnocchi recipe, I decided to make it a recipe of its own.
Because a black cherry tomato sauce is not at all usual in my house, and the novelty deserved its own mention. 🙂
I was enchanted by these cherry tomatoes, they have a unique goodness, with an intense and full-bodied flavor, and they dress perfectly, producing a nice sauce even though they were left in large pieces and cooked briefly, simply sautéed.
I’m sure they would have done well with other types of pasta too, but beginner’s luck rewarded me when I decided to make flour and water gnocchi just on the day I bought these unknown cherry tomatoes, and in the end, the beautiful pan of striped cherry tomatoes turned out to be a perfect sauce for the gnocchi.
By family tradition, I have always considered gnocchi a winter dish, and in fact, I often preferred to dress traditional potato gnocchi with sauces, often meat-based, or melted cheeses.
But since I learned to make flour gnocchi, that is recently in the middle of the hot season, I understood that gnocchi are perfect as a summer dish! 🙂
Let me introduce my gnocchi with striped black cherry tomatoes. Please, help yourself! 🤗
👇 And if you are looking for other gnocchi ideas, take a look here: 😉👇
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer, and Fall
Ingredients
- 14 oz Gnocchi
- 14 oz Striped Black Cherry Tomatoes
- 1 clove Garlic
- Oregano
- Basil
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Chili Pepper (optional)
Tools
- Pan
- Pot
Preparation
As already mentioned in the intro, the gnocchi in this recipe are the flour and water gnocchi I gave you the basic recipe for a few days ago. But if you prefer to use potato gnocchi I have no doubt they would be just as tasty with this black cherry tomato sauce. 🙂
Here they are, the black cherry tomatoes, raw they are a dark red color streaked with green, they sold them to me as black tomatoes but they are not entirely black in this variety. Cooked, they lose a bit of the green streak, while remaining darker than the cherry tomatoes I’m usually accustomed to. I show them to you in the pan cut into large pieces or halves:
I photographed them at two different moments of cooking, because:
▪ on the left they are still intact pieces after a few minutes of cooking, just blanched,
▪ then, I put them back on the heat during the cooking of the gnocchi and – since the cooking of frozen gnocchi takes a few minutes longer – a few more minutes of cooking was enough to make the cherry tomatoes softer and moister, perfect as a sauce.
Finely chop the garlic and wash the cherry tomatoes. Put everything raw in the pan: oil, garlic, and cherry tomatoes cut into pieces.
Sauté them without a lid over high heat. A sprinkle of oregano, a few basil leaves torn with your hands, a few turns with the wooden spoon.
All while waiting for the gnocchi cooking water to come to a boil. Gnocchi take little time to float to the surface, a couple of minutes if fresh or five or six minutes if frozen.
☝ Prepare them in advance and freeze them! They cost much less than frozen gnocchi. 🙂
Pour them into the sauce pan. Sauté briefly. And voilà.
Serve. And enjoy them.
Everyone, eh! 🙂
Tips without Salt
These striped black tomatoes have a full-bodied flavor that absolutely does not need the salty taste of added salt. Enjoy them naturally, trust me it’s worth it. At most I’ll allow you a pinch of chili pepper, but just a pinch. 😀
And the salt in the gnocchi water… okay, you decide, but… have you at least tried to halve the amount you used before starting to read my recipes?
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, remember always to:
▫ Reduce the salt gradually, the palate needs to get used to it slowly and should not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruit. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my vegetable granular without salt
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid boiling methods, prefer cooking methods that do not disperse flavors (grilling, en papillote, steaming, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Sometimes allow yourself a cheat day. It’s good for the mood and helps you to persevere.
If you don’t want, or can’t, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes salting according to your habits.
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