Fusion Dish!!! Gnocchi with white sauce

Hiii all,

Yes!! Today I am here with a fusion dish. Italian Gnocchi with Indian spices. I had some gnocchi and wanted to try something very different. I have previously prepared pasta with white sauce. So, thought of following the same procedure for gnocchi as well. But still made some alterations by slightly Indianising it!! Instead of just adding the the boiled gnocchi in to the dish, I toasted them in the pan with some idian spices such as coriander powder, chilli powder and garam masala powder. This of course gave an additional flavor to this dish. We were quite happy with the results.

This involves 4 step process.
1. Cooking the gnocchi
2. Toasting the gnocchi
3. Making white sauce
4. Cooking the veggies

1. For cooking the gnocchi

• Gnocchi - 200 gms
• Water - 4 cups

Method

• Bring water to boil
• When it comes to boil, add the gnocchi and cook it it is soft. It will not take much time to cook. Hardly 6 to 10 minutes.
• Drain the water and keep them ready

2. Toasting the Gnocchi

• Cooked gnocchi
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 2 tsp
• Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
• Butter / oil - 2 tsp

Method

• Heat butter / oil in a pan (preferably non stick)  and add gnocchi. Always keep the heat in medium. Toast them until  its slightly brown on all the sides. Keep mixing in order to avoid burning.
• Add salt, chilli powder, coriander powder and garm masala and give it a good toss. Cook for another minute or two. Remove from heat and keep it aside.

3. For the white sauce

• Butter - 1 tblspn
• All purpose flour - 1 tblspn
• Milk - 1.5 cups
• Salt - 1.5 tsp
• Pepper powder - 1 tsp
• Any processed cheese - 1 tblspn, grated
• Mixed Italian herbs - 1 tsp (Optional - I did not add it. But it will enhance the taste if u add)

Method

• In a saucepan, heat butter and add the all purpose flour. Keep the heat in low. Mix it and add 1/2 cup milk. Mix it well until you see it becomes little thick. 
• Add the remaining milk and increase the heat to medium. Keep mixing vigorously to avoid any lumps. Add salt, pepper and Italian herbs. Add the processed cheese.
• When it starts to thicken, remove from heat and keep aside. 
• Your white sauce is now ready.

4. Cooking the veggies

• Butter / oil - 1 tblspn
• Garlic - 5 - 6 pods, minced
• Green chillies - 3 nos, finely chopped
• Onion - 1 big 
• Veggies of your choice (I added carrot, broccoli, asparagus, bell peppers and mushrooms)
• Pepper powder - 2 tsp
• Coriander leaves - few, finely chopped
• Salt - according to taste

Method

•  Heat butter / oil in a pan. Add garlic and green chillies and fry for few seconds. Add onions and saute them for a minute.
• Now add all the vegetables and cook them until they are half done. It will take 5 to 10 minutes. Keep stirring continuously. Do not add water for cooking the veggies.
• Add salt and pepper powder.
• Cook it for another 4 minutes and remove them from heat. Sprinkle some coriander leaves and mix them.

How to proceed

You will need

• grated processed cheese,
•  pan seared cherry tomatoes (Optional) ,

•  finely chopped coriander and spring onions to garnish.

Method

• In a big pan, first add veggies, then white sauce and gnocchi. Add 1/2 cup of water and turn on the heat. Keep the heat low.
• Sprinkle some grated cheese. 
• Cover the lid and let it cook for 5 minutes or until the cheese melts. 
• The mixture might have thickened by this time. 

• Switch off the heat. Transfer them to serving dish. Garnish with spring onion greens, coriander leaves, pan seared cherry tomatoes and grated cheese.

• Dig in right away!!