The GNOCCHI WITH ASPARAGUS AND GUANCIALE are a tasty and well-balanced first course, perfect as a main dish for a spring lunch or even a festive meal when you want to serve something indulgent and special. It’s an extremely easy dish to prepare, as you’ll see, but it truly deserves your attention.
Making these gnocchi doesn’t require much time, especially if you use a ready-made product (today there are excellent frozen options on the market), but if you wish and aren’t in a hurry you can easily make them at home.
The sauce I suggest comes from peasant tradition: very crispy guanciale and asparagus briefly blanched so they remain flavorful and slightly crunchy, creating a pleasant contrast of textures in the dish. The sweetness of the asparagus, the savoriness and aroma of the guanciale, combined with the soft and delicate gnocchi, will create the magic of the plate.
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- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring
Ingredients
- 2.2 lb potato gnocchi
- 12 oz asparagus
- 3.5 oz guanciale (cured pork cheek)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
WHAT YOU’LL NEED FOR THE GNOCCHI WITH ASPARAGUS AND GUANCIALE
- 1 Pot
- 1 Pan
- 1 Saucepan
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
PREPARATION: GNOCCHI WITH ASPARAGUS AND GUANCIALE
Preparing the GNOCCHI WITH ASPARAGUS AND GUANCIALE is very easy and quick.
Wash and trim the asparagus, removing the woody part of the stalks. Then cut the stalks into rounds, leaving the tips whole.
Bring lightly salted water to a boil and cook the asparagus rounds for 3 minutes. Add the tips, halved, and cook for another 1 minute. Drain them, place them in cold water, and reserve the cooking water.
In a pan, sauté the guanciale cut into strips with a drizzle of oil.
Cook it until crispy and drain on paper towels. In the pan with the guanciale fat, add the asparagus and let them absorb the flavor. Then add the water in which you cooked the asparagus and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
In a pot, bring plenty of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the gnocchi. As soon as they float to the surface, drain them and transfer them to the pan with the sauce.
Toss them, adding more reserved cooking water if necessary.
Serve and enjoy the gnocchi with asparagus and guanciale while hot.
VARIATION
If you don’t like or don’t have guanciale available, you can replace it with speck or pancetta.
When finishing the dish, you can add Pecorino Romano to give it an extra burst of flavor and savoriness.
