Homemade Vegan Gnocchi with Vegan Pesto

homemade pasta comes in all shapes and forms and one of my favorites is gnocchi! all you need are potatoes, flour, and some salt. they boil up in a matter of minutes and then you can put them in your favorite sauce.

what are gnocchi?

Before we get into this recipe let’s talk about what gnocchi are! If you have no clue what gnocchi is it is a type of homemade pasta that is a small dumpling. They are chewy and should melt in your mouth! There are a lot of different ways you can make gnocchi like with ricotta (gnudi), sweet potato, or cauliflower! However, it is traditionally made with potato, flour, egg, and salt. In our case though we are going to fully eliminate the egg to keep it vegan. Gnocchi are a time consuming thing to make and do require a bit of skill so be patient with yourself when making them. Trust me the result is so worth it!

the ingredients

• Russet Potatoes: these potatoes work best for gnocchi making but you can always use Yukon Gold potatoes. Different potatoes have different water concentrations so it could result in adjusting the amount of flour.
• All Purpose Flour: this helps to make our gnocchi into dumplings rather than just mashed potatoes. My preferred brand for flour is King Arthur’s. I haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour but I think a 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour should work fine!
• Salt: just some regular table salt to give the gnocchi a bit of flavor.
• Fresh Basil: the base of our pesto.
• Olive Oil: used in the pesto as an emulsifier. I prefer to either use light olive oil or a more mild extra virgin olive oil.
• Fresh Garlic: adds flavor into the pesto.
• Vegan Parmesan: adds saltiness and flavor into the vegan parmesan. I like Follow Your Heart or Violife. You can also use my homemade recipe.
• Walnuts: typically pesto uses pignoli (pine nuts) but you can swap it for another nut like walnuts or cashews. For a nut free version you can use sunflower or hemp seeds.

how to make gnocchi

Making gnocchi isn’t extremely hard but it is time consuming and requires a bit of skill and patience. You are going to first bake the potatoes for an hour. They are baked because we want to draw out moisture from the potatoes and baking will keep it dry. If you are in a pinch you can also microwave them for 10 minutes or until they are soft, of course don’t wrap them in foil. After they are done baking and cooled you will carefully peel the skins off. Then, either you use a potato ricer or the back of a fork to mash them up into a very smooth texture. At this point you will now add in the salt and slowly incorporate the flour. Ideally, you want to add just enough flour to turn it into a dough that is well formed and has a touch of moisture on the inside, this will help keep the gnocchi light. Once you’ve made all the gnocchi you can then cook them right away, freeze them for later, or refrigerate them until you want to make them.

gnocchi dough

The key to making gnocchi light and fluffy is adding the least amount of flour you can to make it into a dough. If you add in too much flour it will result in dense gnocchi, which we definitely don’t want. This is where the need of some skill will come in. Everytime I make gnocchi I feel like I always add in a different amount of flour. Don’t get mad at me for that the recipe down below will be a good starting point but you will need to assess the dough to make sure it is right consistency. The dough should easily form into a ball. It shouldn’t be sticky to touch and it shouldn’t stick to the board. When you cut a piece of the dough off it may be slightly tacky and wet on the inside, not sticking to your hand but just that there is moisture in there. It should be easy to roll the dough into a long snake or log and then it should also be able to roll onto the back of a fork to make a striped design. You may need to of course flour the board or stick the fork in some flour to prevent a tiny amount of sticking but the dough should be mostly holding its shape.

homemade pesto

The easiest part of this recipe is making the homemade pesto! You just put everything into a blender or food processor and blend until it is all combined. I personally like the for the pesto to be a bit creamier looking so I opt to add in water and oil to achieve a lighter color. The word pesto comes from the verb pestare which means to step on or to press. Typically, pesto is made with a pestle and mortar and you would add in all the ingredients and press them together.

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homemade vegan gnocchi faq

• Is this recipe gluten free? No but please go read the ingredients section for further info on making this gluten free.
• Is this recipe nut free? The gnocchi are, the pesto is not but you can always try using sunflower seeds in place of the nuts.
• Is this recipe soy free? Yes.
• How long will the gnocchi last in the fridge? Uncooked up to 2 days, cooked up to 3 days.
• How long will the pesto last in the fridge? Up to 4 days.
• Can I freeze the gnocchi? Yes, after you make them all place on a baking sheet and pop in the fridge. Once they are all frozen store in a container.
• I don’t like pesto what else can I put on my gnocchi? Any sauce you like, its pasta.
• Can I make the gnocchi crispy? Yes, after boiling place in a pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon of vegan butter and cook over medium heat. Shake the pan occasionally to make sure everything is getting crispy.

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