So, do you fall in the pro-mushrooms or anti-mushrooms camp?
In my experience entertaining and cooking for people for years, most people tend to passionately fall in one camp or the other. Which means that I rarely find myself cooking mushrooms when people are coming over, just to be safe. But when it’s just me — or me and Barclay (thankfully I’m dating pro-!) — eating dinner together, I find myself tossing mushrooms into a recipe as often as possible. Can’t get enough of ’em!
That said, for the first twenty years of my life, my mom will be the first to tell you that I was firmly in the anti-fungii camp. Whenever she would try and cook recipes with a can of cream of mushroom soup, I would dissect my plate for the entire first half of the meal, trying to pick out those microscopic mushrooms. And of course, I wouldn’t even come near any dish where mushrooms were left whole and easy to spot. No way, Jose.
But I still remember — yes, of all the moments in life, weirdly this memory stuck with me — that all changed one night at Chili’s. I had just moved to Kansas City after college, and was out with friends for a late dinner after church, and a friend had ordered some steak fajitas. Knowing how much I love steak, she offered me a few bites, and I reached over and picked up a piece of steak with my fork. But once I took a bite, I realized it was definitely not steak, and instead was the biggest bite of a portobello mushroom I’d ever had in my life. And — much to my surprise — I loved it!!!
Ever since that night, I’ve been very happily in the pro- camp, happily taste-testing any new mushroom I come across. And I love tossing as many of them into a dish as I can — like in this tasty gnocchi recipe! I decided to go the “descriptive” route and name it Toasted Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Basil and Parmesan. But let’s be real, this is totally a Mushroom Lovers’ Gnocchi. :)
I randomly came up with this one awhile back when I was craving mushrooms galore, and wanted something hearty besides pasta. I always keep a few boxes of gnocchi in the pantry, so I grabbed one of those, and decided to make something happen.
Well, first, I took a quick walk down to our enormous Asian market in my neighborhood to grab some mushrooms. They always have about 10 different kinds for sale, which I love experimenting with. But for this recipe, I kept it simple and just picked up a carton of shiitakes and baby bellas. (Feel free to use whichever a mix of any kinds you like, though!)
Then I sauteed them with some butter while the gnocchi cooked. Then added the gnocchi and lots of garlic to the pan and sauteed it until it got nice and toasted and browned. Then came some white wine, then some basil, then some Parmesan, and…
…voila! This delicious dish was the result.
It only took about 20 minutes to make, it’s wonderfully rich and hearty (trust me, you meat-eaters won’t miss a thing!), and it’s full of the most delicious, rich, fresh, savory flavors. I loved it so much I made a second batch later that week, just to “test” it — and by that, I mean eat so much of it — one more time. And it’s definitely a winner.
So if you are pro-mushrooms and love them as much as I do, I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try. Enjoy, friends!
Toasted Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Basil and Parmesan
Ingredients
- 1 pound (uncooked) potato gnocchi*, homemade or store-bought
- 8 ounces baby bella or white button mushrooms, sliced
- 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2/3 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup julienned or roughly-chopped fresh basil leaves, loosely-packed
- 1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Instructions
- Cook gnocchi according to package directions in a large stockpot of generously-salted boiling water. Drain, and set aside.
- Meanwhile, as the gnocchi is cooking, melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are soft and slightly browned. Then add in the cooked gnocchi and garlic and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is fragrant and the gnocchi is lightly toasted and browned around the edges.
- Carefully add in the wine, and give the mixture a good stir. Continue cooking for 3-4 minutes, until the wine has reduced by half.
- Remove pan from the heat, stir in the fresh basil and Parmesan until combined.
- Serve immediately, garnished with extra Parmesan if desired.
Notes
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!
Sounds delicious! Can I substitute cooked frozen shrimp for raw?
Hi Masha! Did you mean to comment on a different recipe? There’s no shrimp in this one, though you’re welcome to add some to it!
I made this for dinner tonight and LOVED it. I don’t really even like mushrooms that much, but this was totally delicious. My boyfriend went back for seconds. Your recipes are easy to follow and the finished products are always super tasty. Thank you!
We’re so glad to hear that, Cassandra — thanks for your sweet words! :)
This recipe is amazing! It came together so quickly, and smelled incredible the whole time I was cooking it. I agree with a couple other commenters that this isn’t quite four servings; I’d say it’s more like three, and a couple of hungry college students (me and my roommate are guilty) can clear out the whole pan. I don’t eat dairy, so I switched the parmesan out for a dairy-free alternative I found online and my roommate swore she couldn’t tell the difference. So this recipe is also really easy to adapt if you’re lactose intolerant or vegan! It’s a great hearty weeknight meal, and I’m definitely going to be making it a lot now that the temperature is dropping.
Thanks for sharing, Katherine — we’re happy you enjoyed it!
My Lord!! This is so good. I accidentally bought cheese gnocchi, but, hello…still good. I also wondered if broth would sub for wine and I saw the comment to that effect but I wonder how it impacts the taste. The basil made it fresh and bright and hard to stop eating it. My only complaint is that this is in no way 4 servings!! I think I ate at least one serving just while waiting for it to cool so I could pack it for lunch. I am already thinking of variations (sausage, fresh tomato (I’m from Jersey…it’s what we do), pancetta, toasting the garlic first…I mean, it’s perfect as is but there are surely other ways to combine this with other things that are my culinary favorites!) I would have to double it in order for it to make it to the table to feed my family of THREE! LOL We are totally pro-fungi! So, thank you for this awesome recipe. (And you should know that every sentence that I have typed has been punctuated with a bite of the delicious meal!) Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks for sharing with us, Carla! We’re so thrilled that you enjoyed this! :)
i’m a big fan of mushroom, too . that’s why my family eats mushrooms and anything made from it every 3days xD
last week i read this post and tried to do it. my kids really loved it, they wanted more and more…
i must say this is a really nice recipe. thanks for sharing, Ali. this evening i’ll make it again but i want to try gin instead of white wine. would you please if there’s a change in your recipe?
Hi Pat! We’re glad you enjoyed the recipe! We haven’t tried this with gin though, so we can’t say how that would turn out. We would probably opt for vodka before trying gin. If you try it though, definitely let us know how it turns out!
just tried the recipe. did not comsume any time really, tasted absolutely delicious! will keep it in my “let’s cook this again”-book. thank you :)
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Sarah!
Can you use stock instead of white wine ?
Yes, definitely!
Made this last night. Absolutely fantastic! Whole family was fighting over it. And it was truly fast – often recipes promise “30-min or less” but really take me longer. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing with us, Lori! We’re so glad you and your family enjoyed it!
Just wanted to tell that I made this yesterday and it was truly amazing lunch…for me this is everything you would want in one meal…Husband and son loved it…thank you
Thanks for sharing with us, Vesna! We’re so glad you and your family enjoyed it!
Hi Ali,
it looks amazing.
Want to make this today for lunch.
Have some oyster mushrooms left from yesterday. Can they be used also? Thank you.
Thanks, Vesna — we hope you enjoy this! And yes, you could definitely use oyster mushrooms! :)