This vegan gnocchi is delicious, filling, and, honestly, just so easy to make. And while I love the creamy and cheesy dishes from my youth, these days I stay away from meat and dairy, and this ragout is so rich and delicious, even without them.
Recipe by Lauren Roessner
Photography by Michael Marquand
Sweet Paul: Tell me about this dish. What makes it comforting to you?
Lauren Roessner: My mother was 100% Italian, so I spent my childhood eating the most amazing home-cooked Italian food. To this day, pasta is the ultimate comfort food for me. So I knew I wanted to make some sort of pasta for this dish. I went with gnocchi, because it’s delicious, filling, and, honestly, just so easy to make. And while I love the creamy and cheesy dishes from my youth, these days I stay away from meat and dairy, and this ragout is so rich and delicious, even without them. Though I did top it off with some vegan parm.
SERVES 4 TO 6
2 pounds russet or Yukon Gold potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 11/2 cups all-purpose flour
MUSHROOM AND LEEK RAGOUT:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup carrots, finely sliced
1/3 cup celery, finely sliced
1 pound portobello, stems and gills removed, thinly sliced
1 pound leeks, white and green parts, thinly sliced
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, roughly chopped, and more for garnish
1 tablespoon flour
salt
pepper
vegan Parmesan-style cheese (I used Violife)
- For the gnocchi: Preheat oven to 400°.
- Bake potatoes unwrapped on a baking sheet for one hour. Allow the potatoes to cool enough to peel and rice them.
- Place riced potatoes, salt, and olive oil in a bowl. Slowly add in flour as you mix with your hands, until you have a firm dough that holds together but isn’t sticky. Ultimately you want to use as little flour as possible, and the drier your potatoes, the less flour you will need.
- Divide the dough into six pieces. Roll each piece by hand into a log about 3/4-inch thick and cut into pieces about 11/4-inches long.
- Dust cut gnocchi with flour to keep them from sticking together.
- When ready to cook, boil in salted water, and remove gnocchi as they float.
- For the ragout: Heat olive oil at medium in a large saucepan.
- Add carrots and celery, and soften for about 10 minutes, adding a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Add mushrooms and leeks and cook until the mushrooms release their water, stirring often.
- Add vegetable broth, wine, and thyme. Allow to reduce for about 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle with flour and stir until sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss with gnocchi, and top with fresh thyme and vegan Parmesan- style cheese.
TIP:
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