Oh. My. God… This side dish is to die for – everyone needs to try this! Even Jason said they were like little doughy bits of heaven! Imagine delicate potato dumplings swimming in a delicious, warm, creamy cheese sauce, surrounded by bacon and green onions. Hells- yah, as we say in my household!
I found fresh gnocchi at Costco, but you can also use the stuff you find with the dry pasta on your local stores shelves. I’ve used both kinds of gnocchi before and they both work well. I used real bacon bits from Costco rather than cooking bacon… I skimped on that because I was feeling lazy (I had just made a cheesecake and washed a pile of dishes…). Oh, and I used pre-shredded cheese – the kind seasoned for making nachos (so, with a bit of zip to it). I followed the recipe otherwise and I can recommend no changes! The recipe is simple, and so worth it! I just wish I would have remembered to take a photo of the dish once we broke into it so you could see the little gnocchi dumplings all blissfully happy in the cheese sauce.
PS – There’s nothing healthy about this recipe… even if you use 1% milk and light sour cream… just lettin’ ya know!
It’s just sad that I can’t take any credit for this recipe – thank you Two Peas and Their Pod: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/loaded-baked-gnocchi/ – I’ve copied the recipe below.
Loaded Baked Gnocchi
Yield: Serves 4-6
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
ingredients:
1 (1-pound/~500g) package Potato Gnocchi
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
Salt and black pepper, to taste
2 green onions, chopped
3 strips cooked bacon, chopped
directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Spray a 9″ x 9″ baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. Boil a pot of water and cook gnocchi according to package instructions. Drain and arrange in a single layer at the bottom of the prepared dish.
3. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in garlic and cook until lightly golden, about 1 minute. Whisk in flour until mixture thickens. Add the milk and whisk until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Whisk in 1 cup of the cheese. Whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
4. Pour sauce over gnocchi. Sprinkle remaining cheese, green onions, and bacon over the gnocchi (in the photo I hadn’t yet added the cheese).
5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until bubble and cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Serve warm.
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