Creamy Gnocchi & Sausage Skillet

There’s a chance, albeit a brief, fleeting chance…that OKC gets its FIRST SNOW today!

We’ll get a trace amount. It probably won’t stick to the ground.

But I AM LIVING FOR IT.

I’ve been beaming ear-to-ear since Monday. The clouds haven’t stopped blanketing the sky since then, and it’s been cold, drizzly and dreary…but THIS is my kind of weather. I’m absolutely in love with this time of year, and the snow couldn’t have come any sooner…

…because on Saturday, we Christmas.

It’s an all-day Christmas decorating extravaganza! I’m ready for the lights to be twinkling on the tree, the pine-scented candles to be burnt, and all the joy and yuletide the season brings with it. My holiday baking will begin this weekend as well, and it’s going to be hard trying to top all the Christmas goodies I made last year (cookie sticks? Sugar cookie puppy chow? Christmas brownie cookies??) but I’m willing to try.

In honor of my reason for the season, I’ve been making the heartiest, carbiest meals this week. I want those dinners that will warm you up from eyeballs to entrails. Something you can look forward to after a long, cold day.

That’s gnocchi.

It’s the coziest, most heartwarming of all pastas. Potato dumplings wrapped in a silky, creamy sauce is exactly what I needed to get through the week. I could swim in the delightful tomato-cream sauce everyday.

For sausage, nothing is better with gnocchi that Italian sausage. I usually grab the ground version at the store, but a local sausage was calling my name for this dish: Lovera’s. I fried the curled up ring of sausage and then sliced it up to throw in with the gnocchi to finish cooking. It ended up being perfection.

Enjoy!

Step-By-Step Instructions

Heat one tablespoon oil in a large skillet. Add sausage and cook until browned (will be quicker if using a ground sausage rather than a link). Remove sausage to a plate to cool. If using a link, slice into 1/2″ pieces when cool. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in same skillet. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add sausage back to the pan and stir.

Pour in white and deglaze the pan. Let cook for another minute and then add diced tomatoes (with juice in can), cream, and gnocchi. Stir. Let mixture come to a simmer and then cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in parmesan, salt and pepper and make sure the gnocchi is cooked through and soft. Serve dish topped with basil.