To be perfectly honest, I'm not the biggest fan of vegetables. I know they are good for you and have important vitamins in them and whatnot, but overall I wouldn't eat too many of them if I didn't have to. So I basically have to sneak them into my food like I'm a 5 year old. Pasta (or in this case, gnocchi) is a great item to put veggies in, because whatever sauce is on the pasta usually makes the veggies taste a lot better.
Ironically, in this case, the vegetables in this dish are the highlight of it. The peas and asparagus covered in mascarpone cream sauce are by far the most delicious part of this meal. They make a bright addition to the otherwise very creamy texture of the gnocchi and sauce.
The best part about this recipe is how very simple it is. I use packaged gnocchi, which takes something like 3 minutes to cook in boiling water and then it's ready. The sauce is only 3 ingredients, and hardest part of that is having to grate the Parmesan (if you buy the pre-grated stuff it doesn't really melt properly). Then you just cook up the veggies in a pan, put it all together and its done.
So, this becomes a really quick, easy dinner that would be great for a weeknight meal. It is especially good because picky kids will eat this right up, I should know since I have the taste buds of one myself!
Spring Gnocchi with Mascarpone Cream Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Dinner
Ingredients
- 1 package gnocchi
Sauce
- 1 10oz package mascarpone
- 2 tbsp butter
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Vegetables
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 bunch asparagus
- 1 cup sweet peas
Instructions
Gnocchi
- Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
Sauce
- In a small saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Add in the mascarpone cheese, and stir until the mascarpone has all melted. Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese. Set aside.
Vegetables
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and asparagus. Season asparagus generously with salt and pepper. Cook for 8-10 minutes until the asparagus is tender. Add the minced garlic to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Add the peas to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes until the peas are heated.
- Add the gnocchi and the cream sauce to the pan. Stir everything together and continue to heat until heated through. Serve with additional Parmesean cheese grated over the top.
