Gnocchi with a Parmesan-Beer Sauce

First let me say that most of us with an Italian family history believe “potato gnocchi” is redundant. We never learned to make gnocchi with anything but potatoes, the flour type was always called Cavatelli. But now between “fusion” cooking and the Americanization of ethnic dishes many restaurants and food producers use the words “potato gnocchi”. Funny though, they never make gnocchi with anything else. Oh well like Shakespeare would have said, gnocchi by any other name would still be fantastic.

Second, it isn’t Ga Nochi.

Third, you can make your own or buy it at the store. I’ll show you how to make it from scratch in another post but for now, buy it. I want this to be simple.

Fourth, Parmigiano-Reggiano is the legal name for a specific cheese made in a specific area of Italy by a specific recipe. It is fantastic and has a great melting ability but if you are only using it to lightly cover something, then buy a less expensive parmesan for dishes like this or topping spaghetti.

As for this recipe, it was inspired by one I read on Oklahoma Beer. That is a good site for both recipes and facts about beer. Try it sometime.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbl Butter, divided
• 2 ½ Tbl Flour
• 1 cup Pumpkin ale (a good Lager or Cream ale will also do and produce interesting alternative flavors.
• 1 ¼ cups Half and Half
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated and divided
• 1/8 tsp Nutmeg, ground
• 1 lb Gnocchi
• 10 oz frozen peas and carrots
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Put water into a large pot, add some salt, and heat to a boil at a medium high heat setting.
2. Butter a glass baking dish or casserole about 11x17. Don’t use too much butter, only about ½ to 1 tablespoon.
3. Melt the remaining butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. If you used too much butter on the glass dish then make sure you have 2 ½ tablespoons of butter for this stage.
4. Slowly add the flour to the butter and whisk them together.
5. Pour the beer into the butter mixture and continue to whisk.
6. Now add the Half-and-Half to the butter mixture and keep whisking. In fact keep whisking until everything begins to boil. After about 3 minutes this stuff should begin to thicken.
7. Begin to preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
8. Add ¾ cup of the parmesan cheese and all the nutmeg to the butter mixture and cook for another minute. Add salt and pepper if you like and take the saucepan off the heat.
9. The water should begin to boil around now so add the gnocchi and cook according to the package instructions. That normally means about 3 minutes when the pasta begins to float.
10. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. If you would like, take the gnocchi out of the water by using a slotted spoon and put it on a plate. Then dump the water and gently return the gnocchi to the pot.
11. Add the butter mixture, which is no a nice cheese sauce, to the pasta.
12. Add the peas and carrots to the pasta.
13. Stir gently to make sure everything is covered.
14. Using one of those big spoons take the pasta and everything out of the large pan and put it into the baking dish/casserole.
15. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese on top.
16. Cook in the oven uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes. It should be bubbling.
17. Let it sit for a minute and serve it hot.