Creamy Gnocchi and Mushrooms

Tonight (possible for the first time) I’m not writing up a main dish, but a side dish.

Creamy Gnocchi and Mushrooms. It actually could serve as a main dish if you didn’t want a protein, but this was served with an air fried roasted chicken with asparagus.. But for this posting, we’ll focus on this absolutely delightful side to have on a cold, rainy Sunday evening.

When planning this meal, I could see we had a rainy day ahead, so I went on Amazon and ordered my basil gnocchi. It’s amazing that we can actually do this, but I live in Colonial Beach, and I can’t just assume that I have anything other than regular potato gnocchi. Two days later it showed up.

I found the basis of this recipe online, and tweaked it a bit. But I’m very happy with the result.

Ingredients
2 tablespoon olive oil
Mushrooms, we had 1 8 box of portobello, one of shiitake.

16 oz potato gnocchi
½ cup chicken broth, we used Bone Broth
1 cup heavy cream, I think 1/2 cup would be fine
4 cloves garlic minced
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
A bag of fresh spinach
¼ teaspoon salt to taste
coarsely ground black pepper to taste
red pepper flakes to taste

Instructions
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large, high-sided, heavy-bottomed skillet. Cook sliced mushrooms (seasoned with salt and pepper), sprinkled with salt and pepper, on high heat for about 1 or 2 minutes, until lightly browned and softened. Remove half of the cooked mushrooms from the skillet to a plate.

Make the Sauce

To the same skillet with the half of cooked mushrooms, add uncooked potato gnocchi, chicken broth, heavy cream, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, and ¼ teaspoon salt.
Bring to a boil on medium heat and stir everything well. Cover with lid, and allow the gnocchi to cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat, while the sauce boils.
Add fresh spinach, and cook on medium heat, stirring frequently for 5 minutes until the spinach wilts to your liking. Cook longer if you would like a thicker sauce.

Assembly

Season with freshly ground coarse black pepper, red pepper flakes, and smoked paprika.
Top with the remaining half of the cooked mushrooms.