Easy Creamy Tomato and Sausage Gnocchi Recipe
There is nothing I love more than a hearty comforting bowl of pasta. And one of my most favorite kinds of pasta is gnocchi. These little potato pasta dumplings are so amazing delicious. Today I want to show you one of my favorite easy gnocchi recipes. My creamy tomato and sausage gnocchi recipe is so very yummy and it easy to boot!
Now, lets talk about what the heck gnocchi is anyways. If you haven’t ever heard of them, they are small pasta pillowy lumps made from potatoes and flour. I have actually made these a couple times, and they are amazing. However, I have sold out a bit and simply buy them pre made from the store recently.
While they are easy to make, there is a technique to shaping these little “lumps” and it can be time consuming. So, I leave it to the experts!
There are so many different ways you can use gnocchi in your recipes. You can make stews and soups with them, or simply make a pasta with any kind of sauce you love. I prefer a tomato based sauce for my gnocchi and don’t really like a creamy sauce on them, but that is just me. This creamy tomato and sausage gnocchi recipe is the perfect combination of tomato and cream, so it is a win for me, and my kids completely devour them.
Just yesterday I made this recipe again, after spending a couple hours walking the fence lines behind our home picking wild asparagus. Yes, it is as cool as you are thinking! I came home with 3 giant bags of fresh, wild asparagus and knew a simple pasta was the perfect partner for dinner.
Since I was also tired from a day of working in the yard, preparing goat birthing areas, and picking asparagus, I needed an easy dinner and this creamy tomato and sausage gnocchi recipe was perfect. Plus, I had all the ingredient son hand, which is always nice. The ingredients you need for this recipe are simple ingredients you probably already have, well, except for the gnocchi pasta. But, you can find this at all grocery stores these days.
How to make this easy creamy tomato and sausage gnocchi recipe:
So, lets talk about how to make this dinner. Its done in 30 minutes which is perfect for our family. I start by cooking my sausage in a large skillet. I will use this skillet for almost the entire dinner)minus the pasta which will cook while we make the sauce.
I start the pasta water on HI while I cook my sausage. Once the sausage is cooked, I turn the heat to low and add 4-5 cloves of garlic. My son says the more garlic the better, so you can add more or add less if you want.
Let the garlic cook slowly with the sausage. Don’t let the garlic burn, this will make it taste bitter. Booking it on low allows it to release its juices and become very aromatic. I usually cook it for about 3-4 minutes.
Next, pour inn your cooking wine, I have used white wine and even some marsala cooking wine! Did you know you can find small bottles of cooking wine on the shelves at Walmart? Super convenient.
Now, add your crushed tomatoes and stir it all together. Let it simmer for a bit.
**If you like mushrooms, you can quickly sautée some to add to the sauce. I add them whenever I have some in my fridge, and it is amazing.
While the sauce simmers, check your pasta water. If it has come to a boil, add the gnocchi to the pot and stir. It only takes about 2 minutes to cook, so now you need to act fast.
Pour 1/2 cup cream in to the sauce and stir. You can season with salt and pepper at this point. If you want it more creamy, go ahead and add a bit ore cream. I don’t generally like mine super creamy.
As the pasta floats to the top, you can ladle it out and into the sauce. No need to drain and rinse. Scoop them out and add them to the sauce until you have gotten all the gnocchi out of the water.
Give the pasta a good stir into the sauce and it will soak up a bit of the sauce too.
I like to top mine with a bit of parmesan cheese and some fresh basil if I have some. You can also get the tube of basil paste and stir a bit into the sauce. Its so easy!
I love to serve this with a large side of asparagus or a fresh salad.
I sometimes will use spicy sausage and sometimes regular. it just depends on what I have. But, I will say the spicy sausage gives it amazing flavor and isn’t really hot.
In these images, I did use mushrooms as well, because we love them, but know that they are totally optional.
Want other great dinner ideas? Check these out:
5 Ingredient Fast and Easy Broccoli Pasta Dinner
My Flavorful Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe
The Most Amazing Beef Stroganoff Recipe You Will Ever Make!
Easy French Bread Recipe in Under 2 Hours
Easy Creamy Tomato and Sausage Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb hot or regular sausage
- 4-5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 14oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 PKG premade gnocchi pasta
- 1/2 cup white wine or marsala wine
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- basil
- parmesan cheese
- 1 pkg sliced mushrooms (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Turn your pasta water on to boil in a large pan, and heat a large skillet. Add your sausage to the skillet and cook it on medium heat. Break it into smaller pieces as it cooks
- Once the sausage has cooked, turn the heat to low wait a couple minutes and add your garlic. Let it cook slow and low for about 5 minutes. Do not let the garlic burn or it will be bitter.
- Once the garlic is softened and aromatic, add the wine and let it cook down for a couple minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, and stir all together.
- Let this simmer for a couple minutes while you check the pasta water.
- Once the pasta water is boiling, add your gnocchi and give them a stir to break them apart. They will only take 2-3 minutes to cook so keep an eye on them.
- Act quickly now, pour in your heavy cream to the tomato sauce and stir. Check the gnocchi. As they cook, they will float to the top. When they float to the top, you will know they are done. Simply ladle them out and into the tomato sauce. Stir the gnocchi in. It will absorb a. bit of the pasta sauce.
- i like to top mine with chopped basil and parmesan cheese. You can also get basil paste at the store in the produce section and use that. Simply stir it in to the sauce.
- Serve with some yummy grilled veggies, a fresh salad, and some garlic bread.
- I often double this recipe for my family, however I do not double the crushed tomatoes, I do 1 and a 1/2.
- We also love to add sauteed mushrooms to this gnocchi pasta. It is amazing!
Can you believe that asparagus grows wild on my fence lines? Its the best part of spring here!
So so very good!!
