Parisienne-Style Gnocchi
A Parisienne gnocchi is one of those dishes you’ll dream about and crave!
you're making mealtime meaningful.
What makes a gnocchi “Parisienne,” one might ask? This particular style of gnocchi doesn’t use potatoes. Instead, flour, butter, egg, and Dijon mustard are mixed together to create a choux pastry dough – it could hardly be called “French” without butter, oui? The finished gnocchi is luxurious in its deliciousness and the accompanying sauce is – as they say – chef kiss good.
Gnocchi means “dumpling” in Italian, and you may be most familiar with the more traditional gnocchi, one that is shaped with those distinctive groves. This particular style of gnocchi uses a piping bag to contain the dough and the individual dumplings are cut into the awaiting pot of boiling water. They’re so smooth and rich without being too heavy.
Cheesy, creamy, and savory – that’s how I’d describe Parisienne gnocchi. The dough is one part of this and the other is the sauce. Two kinds of cheese, Parmesan and Gruere, along with milk, heavy cream, and whole grain mustard for brininess and bite is just the sauce that the gnocchi call for. It’s called a mornay sauce, a bechemel with cheese added. The sauce becomes velvety, coating the gnocchi in a blanket of goodness.
A bowlful of this pasta – all homemade – gives a certain elegance to what is really a simple dish to make. Homemade pasta cooks so quickly and in terms of taste, there’s really no comparison. A Parisienne gnocchi is one of those dishes you’ll dream about and crave!
This recipe is featured in our online cooking class, Three Famous Gnocchi.
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Parisienne-Style Gnocchi
Yield(s): Makes 4 cups of gnocchi
10m prep time
15m cook time
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For the gnocchi:
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated
- 3 eggs
For sauce:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3 cups milk
- 1 cup Gruyere cheese
- 1/2 cup Parmesan, finely grated
- 2 - 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard
- 1 tablespoons fresh chives, for garnish
- Kosher salt and a pinch of ground white pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Prepare a disposable piping bag equipped with a round piping tip of your desired size. (The gnocchi will expand when boiling.)
- Bring a pot of slightly salted water to a boil, meanwhile in another pot over medium heat, add water, butter and salt until melted. Reduce heat to low and add flour with a wooden spoon, stirring vigorously until a dough is formed.
- Add dijon mustard and parmesan to the mixture, then incorporate one egg at a time, stirring in between each addition. The dough should look shiny and slightly loose.
- Use a spatula to scrape the dough into the prepared piping bag.
- Pipe the dough in 2 inch pieces over the boiling water using a paring knife to cut each gnocchi into the water. Do this in batches over a 15 - 20 second period. Once gnocchi float, remove with a spider strainer onto a parchment lined sheet tray. Repeat with the remaining batches.
- Make the mornay sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat, first adding the butter to melt, then mixing in the flour with a wooden spoon. Let raw flour cook for 30 - 45 seconds, then pour in cold milk. Bring mixture to a boil and whisk until smooth, then reduce heat to low.
- Add in grated gruyere cheese and parmesan until melted and infused into the sauce. Remove from heat and whisk in heavy cream and whole grain mustard. Season with salt and a pinch of white pepper to taste.
- Pour sauce over gnocchi and garnish with chives. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Serious Eats