Baked Gnocchi

I fell in love with Gnocchi when I previously made this dish so I was excited to try this recipe from Everyday Pasta by Giada de Laurentis. I have made so many wonderful dishes from that cookbook and this recipe was also delicious. This was very quick and easy to make. I'm not sure my sauce got quite as thick as it should have since I used half and half instead of heavy cream. This might be one of those dishes were the real deal is the best thing. The sauce did thicken some with the half and half so I think the substitution works but isn't perfect in this particular recipe. The white sauce was really flavorful. The tanginess of the goat cheese combined with the hint of nutmeg melded really nicely in this dish. I used whole wheat gnocchi for this dish. I would say the whole wheat gnocchi were a little denser than the regular gnocchi but still good. I'm posting the original recipe, but I did halve it when I made it.

Baked Gnocchi
Source: Everyday Pasta by Giada de Laurentis

• 2 (17 ounce) packages potato gnocchi
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 12 ounces baby spinach
• 3 ounces fresh goat cheese
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the gnocchi in a lightly greased 9x13x2 inch baking dish. Set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cream, chicken broth, and flour over medium heat. Continue whisking until the sauce is simmering and thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir to combine. Add the spinach and toss to coat in the cream. Pour the cream and spinach mixture evenly over the gnocchi and gently spread the spinach out to cover.
4. Crumble the goat cheese over the spinach. Sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Bake until the top is golden in places, about 30 minutes.