I vote potatoes should go in all meals!
Tis the season for all the carbs(or if you are me, that is all year). Gnocchi happens to be one of my favorite carbs. I have been working on the perfect vegan gnocchi for a while, and I had some major fails. However, I have finally made the perfect light, fluffy and insanely delicious gnocchi. If you know anything about me though, you know that I can’t just stop there. So, this vegan gnocchi mushroom Florentine is the way I went. Is is so delicious, I could not stop eating it.
Whilst researching the best way to make gnocchi, it seems the consensus is that you don’t want the potatoes to be too wet. I saw some recommendations were to boil with the skin on, then peel. So, in an effort to be as lazy as I like to be, I decided to bake the potatoes. Super easy, and the best way to keep them completely dry.
So, just throw the potatoes in the oven. Let them cool, then peel and mash with flour and salt. That is it. Super easy! You can even prep the potatoes ahead of time, and just make the gnocchi dough when you are ready. Once the dough is ready, just roll, cut and boil. They only take a few minutes to cook and float when they are ready.
In the mean time, you can make the sauce. It is incredibly easy. Saute mushrooms with garlic. Then add veggie stock, almond milk, and corn starch. Then once that has thickened you add the spinach just to wilt it. Pour over the gnocchi or toss the gnocchi in the pan, and Ta Da! Vegan gnocchi mushroom Florentine. One of the best ways to get in your carbs!
Super simple vegan gnocchi with a creamy mushroom and spinach Florentine sauce.
- 3 lbs. Russet potatoes
- 2 1/2 C. All purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 10 oz. Baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
- 3 Cloves Garlic, chopped
- 1 C. Almond milk, or non dairy milk
- 1 C. Vegetable broth
- 3 Tbsp. Corn starch
- 2 Tbsp. Nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp. Lemon juice
- 6 oz. Spinach, fresh
- Salt and pepper to taste
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prick potatoes with a fork all around. Then place in the oven, directly on the oven rack. Bake at 375 degrees for 50-75 minutes or until very soft and tender. Remove from oven and let cool.
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Once the potatoes are cool, peel the skins off, they should come off really easily. Now you have a few options. Either using a ricer, rice the potatoes into a bowl, or place in a bowl and use a hand mixer to whip the potatoes until they are very smooth.
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Once the potatoes are smooth and have no lumps, add in the flour a little at a time, stirring, then kneading until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is no longer sticky. Now add the salt. If the dough is still sticky, you can add up to another half a cup of flour. Continue to knead until you have a smooth ball of dough.
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Now, start boiling a large pot of water.
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Then, get the sauce started. Add the olive oil to a cast iron skillet and heat on medium high. Now add the mushrooms and garlic. Saute until the mushrooms are cooked through. About 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
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While the mushrooms are sauteing, cut the dough into four. On a floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a long thin rope. Then cut into 1 inch squares. You can either leave them like this, or roll on a fork to make the lines.
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When the water is boiling, add some gnocchi, about 10-15 pieces at a time. Boil until they float, about 2-4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl. Repeat until all the gnocchi is cooked.
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Now finish the sauce, mix together the veggie broth, almond milk and corn starch in a bowl. Whisk until fully combined and corn starch has dissolved. Now add to the mushrooms. Reduce to medium low and simmer for about 5-10 minutes until it has thickened. Now add the nutritional yeast, and lemon juice. Whisk. Season with salt and pepper.
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Now add the spinach and stir, just cook until the spinach has wilted. Reduce heat to low. Taste and adjust seasoning.
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Once the gnocchi and sauce are done, either toss the gnocchi in the sauce or pour the sauce over the gnocchi. Serve immediately with vegan parm or a drizzle of balsamic, or just as is!
Make sure you cook the gnocchi within about 20 minutes of making it, or they will start to stick together and become sticky again.
If you want to prep them, just bake the potatoes ahead of time, and don't mix with flour until ready to cook.
can i make it without the Nutritional yeast
Sure! I would just taste and maybe season a little more.
Yum! I’m so glad gnocchi can still be part of my vegan l
Thanks for sharing! This sauce still looks creamy even though there is no dairy!
Just made this-the best gnocchi recipe I’ve tried. I’ve tried a number before, this was the easiest and tastiest-best of both worlds 🙂 Baking the potato is a stroke of genius!
Yesssss! I’m so glad to hear that! 😄
Just had this for dinner!
So delicious! I feel really satisfied.
And my boyfriend who is not vegan loved it too!
Next time I’m going to add onion as well.
Thanks for the recipe!
Amazing!
I already have frozen gnocchi. How much frozen gnocchi would be equivalent to gnocchi made in this recipe?
Thanks!
I would say this makes about 3 cups or so of gnocchi. I don’t have an exact amount, but a little more or less won’t hurt.
How many people mdoes this recipe feed?
It should be about 4 servings.
Thank you, I made it tonight was delicious. First vegan dish!
Would this work in a slow cooker?
I think so! I have not tested the method, but I do think it would work out. Since I have not tested it, I can’t give you specific times or temperatures. I would try maybe a low setting for a few hours. I hope that is sort of helpful!
Could you make the gnocchi and then immediately freeze it in the deep freezer to make it ahead of time?
Yes, I definitely think the gnocchi would freeze well!
Have you ever tried to freeze the sauce? I know dairy doesn’t freeze very well…. but I wonder how this would do. Maybe heat it up and then add the nutritional yeast, lemon, and spinach?
I am SOoooo glad I found your recipes. I’ve saved you on Pinterest and have made 3 of your recipes so far. This one was delicious! I even used store bought gnocchi’s and it was still great! Super easy and super satisfying. Thank you 🙂
I made the “Mom only has thirty minutes to cook and feed you people” version of this. Meaning I used premade gnocci and the lone little can of canned spinach I had since I had none fresh.
It was absolutely DELICIOUS. My kids are going through a “we eat nothing but white food” phase so they wouldn’t try it, but my husband and I practically licked the pot clean. This recipe is so good! Thanks for sharing it!
Love love love this recipe!!! I bought a few boxes of vegan gnocchi not knowing what to do with it. This recipe caught my eye (actually it was the mushrooms…my favorite food!) so I decided to give it a try. My husband practically ate the whole thing out of the pan before I could even plate it. I made the sauce again only a little thicker and we used it as a dip. One of our new weekly favs!
substituted a chicken style stock cube instead of vegetable. Left off the nutritional yeast as i don’t like the flavour. it was delicious! Thankyou!
Made this tonight and my husband, who doesn’t think a dinners complete without meat on his plate, had a second helping! Very tasty and filling. Only thing I added was hot pepper seeds since we like things with a bit of heat.
I really liked this one! I found I needed to make more sauce than called for, and I kicked up the garlic quite a bit. But, I really enjoyed it! I would like to try it without the nutritional yeast… but we’ll see! I served it alongside pan-roasted garlic asparagus… yum, yum, yum!
Excellent pasta dish! I added some red wine when cooking the mushrooms. Definitely will make this again for company. 👍👍👍