Crispy gnocchi salad with peach, goat cheese and walnuts
Para 4 3 €/pers. 190 kcal/100g.
- 500g of packaged potato gnocchi, suitable for cooking directly in a pan or air fryer
- 30 ml of extra virgin olive oil to brown the gnocchi
- 300g of peach, about 2 large peaches
- 80 g of arugula
- 120g of log-shaped goat cheese
- 40g of shelled walnuts
- Shall
- Freshly ground black pepper
- For the lemon and basil vinaigrette:
- 40 ml of extra virgin olive oil
- 20 ml of lemon juice
- 10 ml of balsamic vinegar
- 5g of Dijon mustard
- 8g of fresh basil
- Shall
- Freshly ground black pepper
- We remove the gnocchi from the packaging and separate them with our hands if they are stuck together. Do the gnocchi need to be parboiled before browning them? For this recipe, no, as long as the packaging indicates they can be cooked directly in a pan or air fryer. If the manufacturer requires pre-cooking, we follow their instructions or choose a different type of gnocchi; it's not advisable to blindly apply the same method to every product.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add 30 ml of oil. Spread the gnocchi in a single layer, without crowding them, and leave them undisturbed for the first 2-3 minutes. When the side facing down is golden brown, turn them over and continue cooking until several areas are toasted. In total, you'll need about 8-10 minutes, depending on the brand and size.
- Why do gnocchi stick together or become soggy instead of crispy? This usually happens when there are too many in the pan, they go in wet, the heat is too low, or we stir them constantly from the start. If 500g doesn't fit comfortably, we make two batches. When they're golden brown, we spread them out on a large plate and let them rest for 5 minutes without piling them up: this way they cool down a bit and don't make the arugula soggy when we mix them in.
- Wash and thoroughly dry the peaches and arugula. Cut the fruit in half, remove the pit, and slice it into bite-sized wedges. There's no need to peel them if the skin is intact and well-washed. The arugula should be completely dry, as any excess water will dilute the dressing.
- We roughly chop the walnuts by hand into halves and quarters. We cut the goat cheese into small pieces or crumble it into recognizable chunks, without turning it into crumbs. If we like this combination of fruit and cheese, the rice and quinoa salad with peach is another way to incorporate peach into a savory dish.
- We prepare a vinaigrette by whisking together 40 ml of oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and mustard. We finely chop the fresh basil and add it at the end. We season with salt and pepper and taste. We're looking for a light and fairly fresh vinaigrette, not a thick sauce that completely coats the gnocchi.
- Place the arugula in a large salad bowl and add about a third of the vinaigrette. Toss just enough to lightly coat the leaves. Add the peach, walnuts, and half of the goat cheese.
- Add the warm gnocchi, sprinkle the remaining cheese over them, and drizzle with another small amount of vinaigrette. Gently toss two or three times, just enough to distribute the ingredients without mashing the peach or melting the cheese. Serve immediately and bring the remaining dressing to the table so everyone can add more if they like.
Gnocchi usually arrive at the table soft, freshly cooked, and covered in sauce. Here, we're aiming for almost the opposite: that they remain tender inside, but have a crisp, toasted surface that can stand up to the greens, fruit, and vinaigrette without falling apart. In this crispy gnocchi salad, we brown them directly in a pan, without rinsing them first, provided the type we buy can withstand this cooking method.
This change in texture allows them to be treated more as the crunchy, substantial element of a salad than as pasta with sauce. The peach adds juiciness and sweetness, the arugula provides a slight bitterness, the goat cheese adds creaminess, and the walnuts maintain a different crunch than the gnocchi. It's a combination that works well with other fruit salads on the blog, such as the arugula and endive salad with goat cheese, pistachios, and orange, but here the gnocchi make the dish much more substantial.
For this recipe, it's best to keep two things separate. If you want to learn how to make the dough from scratch, we have a recipe for homemade potato gnocchi. However, to achieve the desired result for this salad, it's more practical to use packaged gnocchi with a firm texture and follow the manufacturer's instructions. On the blog, this recipe serves as a new addition to our collection of gnocchi recipes, but with a different focus than the sauced versions: here, the emphasis is on the contrast between toasted, fresh, juicy, and creamy.
