Baked saffron gnocchi with speck, mozzarella, and walnuts, a hearty and creamy first course to prepare for Sunday lunch.
Its sauce is homemade béchamel, but if you want to shorten the time, you can use packaged béchamel, just heat it to dissolve the saffron packet.
To finish, they are baked with a bit of breadcrumbs and walnut crumbs, to give a golden, enticing, and flavorful crust.
When you serve them, they will ensure a stringy effect inside, I am a sucker for anything stringy! 😛 and you?
If you are a gnocchi lover, this is a recipe you must try!
Below you will find more amazing gnocchi recipes.
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter, and Spring
Ingredients
- 1 lbs of cleaned potatoes
- 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 packet of saffron
- 7 oz of speck sticks
- 5 oz of shredded mozzarella
- 1 oz of breadcrumbs
- 1 oz of walnut kernels
- 2 1/8 cups of milk
- 2 tbsps of butter
- to taste of flour
- to taste of water
- to taste of salt
- 1 tsp of vegetable broth granules
Tools
- Gnocchi Board
- Potato Ricer
Steps
Peel the potatoes and put them in a pot with water and cook them.
Once cooked, mash them and let them cool before working them.
When they have cooled, add the flour and knead. The dough should be smooth and soft; if it is sticky, add a little more flour, as it depends on the potato consistency.
Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
Divide the dough into pieces and roll them into cylinders.
Cut the cylinders into pieces about 3/4 inch long.
Roll the pieces over the gnocchi board.
Once the gnocchi are ready, you can start preparing the sauce and put the pot with water on the stove for cooking the gnocchi.
My béchamel recipe takes less than 10 minutes!
Pour the milk into a saucepan, add the butter, salt, and the teaspoon of vegetable broth granules.
Bring it to a boil.
In the meantime, pour some flour into a plate and add some water, stir to get a rather thick batter.
When the milk has reached a boil, pour in the batter and mix with a whisk until it thickens, then turn off the heat.
Do not let it thicken too much because the gnocchi will dry out in the oven.
Add the saffron powder and mix until it is completely dissolved.
Finish by adding the grated Parmesan and mix well.
In a non-stick pan, pour some EVO oil and add the speck sticks.
Fry until golden and turn off.
Cook the gnocchi in salted water, drain them, and mix with the béchamel sauce.
In a baking dish, spread half of the gnocchi and half of the fried speck.
Finish with half of the shredded mozzarella.
Cover with the remaining gnocchi, the remaining mozzarella, sprinkle the breadcrumbs and chopped walnuts.
Bake at 430°F for 15-20 minutes, just enough time to melt the mozzarella and brown the breadcrumbs.
Baked saffron gnocchi, an excellent first course, perfect and pleasing for both adults and children.
