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Gnocchi with Zucchini Pesto

17/11/2023

Gnocchi with zucchini pesto is a delicious dish and a summer variation of the classic Genovese pesto. Here is the recipe to prepare this dish.

Ingredients

  • 500 g of potato gnocchi
  • 2 medium zucchinis
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 30 g of pine nuts
  • 50 g of grated Parmesan cheese
  • A few leaves of fresh basil
  • A handful of fresh parsley
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

  1. Wash the zucchinis, slice them into thin rounds and then cook them in a pan with a drizzle of oil and a clove of garlic for about 10-15 minutes. Season with a little salt and pepper to taste.

  2. In the meantime, toast the pine nuts in a pan over low heat until golden brown. Keep a constant watch on them as they can burn easily.

  3. Put the cooked zucchinis (removing the garlic clove), toasted pine nuts, parsley, basil, and Parmesan in a blender. Blend everything adding extra virgin olive oil until you get a creamy and homogeneous consistency. Adjust with salt and pepper if necessary.

  4. Boil a pot of salted water and cook the gnocchi following the package instructions, or until they float to the surface, which is the signal that they are ready.

  5. Drain the gnocchi and mix them with the zucchini pesto in a large bowl or directly in the pan where you cooked the zucchinis.

  6. Plate the gnocchi and, if you like, you can add a sprinkle of grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese and some fresh basil leaves for decoration.

Trivia

Zucchini pesto is a lighter and more delicate variant of the classic Genovese pesto. In Italy, it is quite common to use seasonal vegetables to create sauces and dressings for pasta. This type of pesto stands out particularly in the summer period, when zucchinis are at the peak of their flavor.