Gnocchi with caramelized fennel, sautéed mushrooms and wilted spinach combine perfectly with pan-seared potato gnocchi and topped with creamy goat cheese. Savory rich flavors, yet simple to put together!
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Gnocchi with fennel, spinach and mushrooms, this dish is so comforting and full of rich savory flavors. The fennel is sautéed with shallots, mushrooms cooked until tender, fresh spinach is just wilted in at the end.
We use homemade potato gnocchi, give it a quick boil and then lightly sear it. Everything is then tossed together and topped with goat cheese that gets just the right amount of melty. Of course, the cheese is optional.
Table of Contents
Ingredients in Gnocchi With Fennel Spinach and Mushrooms
Ingredient Notes
- Uncooked Potato Gnocchi – homemade or use store-bought.
- Veggies– fennel bulb, shallot, mushrooms (oyster & cremini or your favorite variety), spinach.
- Wine– or use a lite vinegar like white balsamic vinegar, champagne vinegar or a squeeze of lemon.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How To Make Gnocchi With Fennel Spinach and Mushrooms
STEP ONE – Cook gnocchi (store-bought or homemade gnocchi recipe here) in salted simmering water for 2 minutes, until they float to the top. (Or cook according to package directions.)
Alternatively, if you make homemade fresh gnocchi, you can skip the boiling method and put the gnocchi directly into the pan to sear lightly.
STEP TWO – Add olive oil, sliced fennel, and shallot to a skillet and saute over medium-high heat for 5 minutes until the fennel is caramelized.
STEP THREE – Add in mushrooms, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon butter, sauté 5 more minutes. Stir in spinach and transfer this mixture to another dish.
STEP FOUR – In the same pan, add butter and olive oil and fry up the gnocchi until golden, doing 2 batches if needed so as not to crowd the pan.
STEP FIVE – Add the fennel mixture back into the pan with all the gnocchi, mix gently together over medium heat, add a splash of wine (if desired), cook just to warm and crumble goat cheese over the and serve.
Add red pepper flakes or Aleppo for a tasty spice kick!
Faqs
Gnocchi is pretty neutral and goes with so many flavors. You can boil it, bake it, fry it, and sauté it. It holds sauces beautifully, some of the traditional being marinara, pesto. It is rich and flavorful pairing perfectly with roasted or sautéed vegetables, herbs and cheese.
If the gnocchi is freshly made it can be fried directly. If the gnocchi is store-bought or shelf-stable, boil in salted water first.
Fennel is slightly sweet with just a touch of anise flavor. The texture is similar to celery when cooked.
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Enjoy and stay cozy!
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Gnocchi with Fennel, Spinach and Mushrooms
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 7–8 cups 1x
- Category: main, pasta
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Caramelized fennel, sautéed mushrooms and wilted spinach combine perfectly with pa-seared potato gnocchi and topped with creamy goat cheese. Savory rich flavors, yet simple to put together!
Ingredients
- 1 pound uncooked potato gnocchi (homemade or store-bought)
- 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced length wise (about 2 cups or 8 ounces)
- 1 medium shallot, about 1/2 cup, chopped
- 3/4 pound mushrooms, sliced (a variety is nice here)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 ounces spinach, julienne sliced
- splash of wine or drizzle of white balsamic vinegar
- 3–5 ounces goat cheese
- 1/2–3/4 teaspoon salt (adjust to your taste)
- pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook gnocchi (homemade gnocchi recipe here) in salted simmering water for 2 minutes, until they float to the top. (Or cook according to package directions.)
- Add oil, sliced fennel, and shallot to a skillet and saute’ over medium high heat 5 minutes until fennel is caramelized. Add in mushrooms, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon butter, sauté 5 more minutes. Stir in spinach and transfer the mixture to another dish.
- In the same pan, add butter and olive oil and fry up the gnocchi until golden, doing 2 batches if needed so as not to crowd the pan. Add the fennel mixture back into the pan with all the gnocchi, mix gently together and add a splash of wine (or drizzle of white balsamic vinegar), crumble goat cheese on top.
Adjust with salt and pepper to taste. Add red pepper flakes or Aleppo for spice.
Notes
Alternatively if you are making homemade fresh gnocchi you can skip the boiling method and put the gnocchi directly into the pan to lightly sear.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: about 2 cups
- Calories: 234
- Sugar: 4.6 g
- Sodium: 149.4 mg
- Fat: 10.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 6.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.1 g
- Fiber: 5.2 g
- Protein: 10.2 g
- Cholesterol: 25.1 mg
This is AMAZING. Love everything about it. Perfect as written.
Thanks Amy, so happy you enjoyed!
Thank you so much for another PHENOMENAL recipe. I made the recipe as written, but then swapped out fresh mozzarella for the goat cheese (half my family doesn’t like it). It was still delicious! Thank you!
Perfect! Glad you all enjoyed- we definitely encourage adjusting the ingredients to your preference!
This was a tasty and easy dish. Unfortunately, I did not have the gnocchi and used penne pasta instead. I followed the recipe adding a cup of the pasta water at the end to moisten the dish. It was a hit. The fennel, goat cheese and mushrooms were a great combo!
I can see adding grilled salmon or chicken to it for my carnivores.
Thank you for great recipes.
Good to know it all worked out!
This was a very flavorful dish, and easy to throw together once the gnocchi was made. I ended up adding chicken stock to the finished product to keep it nice and moist and also to reheat the gnocchi, which I cooked first. I made gnocchi using your recipe, then, as suggested, seared it directly in the pan without boiling it first. Though it had nice ridges before cooking, those disappeared completely in the cooking process. Next time I will try boiling it before searing it, as I am hopeful that the ridges will not lose their integrity that way.
Ah…shoot, interesting that the ridges disappeared! Glad you enjoyed the flavor though.
Delicious & perfect for a week night dinner. Loved by the whole family – the kids (7 & 9) declared it their favorite gnocchi dish ever! We didn’t add the wine and went very light on the goats cheese. Otherwise followed the recipe. Thank you!!
Great you enjoyed this!
Outstanding! I have to ask: where are those beautiful dark blue bowls from?
So glad you enjoyed! The bowl is from Target.:)
Simple and really good. I made the gnocchis using your recipe but 1) didn’t roll them to shape just kept them as nuggets 2) air fried at 400 for 15 min instead of pan fry. I like making and eating gnocchis but absolutely hate these two steps since 1) the gnocchis get fat when boiled so it’s not like they even maintain the shape, all that effort for what 2) they stick to the pans easily.
Oh cool Bowie. I will try that!
Totally yum- my husband says he could eat it everyday. Still tastes amazing as left overs
So great to hear Barbara!
2nd time I’ve tried this – both times were excellent. Thank you for the generous and consistently first rate material on this site.
So happy you have enjoyed this Eric!
I absolutely love this recipe! I would love your suggestion on what to serve with it. Perhaps a salad of some type?
Great to hear!
Made this for dinner the other night and my partner raved about it all night long. This was truly delicious and yet so simple. The ingredients really shine on their own. I used half shiitake & baby bella mushrooms. Omitted the cheese since I’m vegan and it was still outstanding. This will be going in my regular rotation! I’ve never made a recipe of yours that we haven’t enjoyed. Thanks so much for sharing your talent with us.
So nice to hear this Tracy and thrilled that you are enjoying the recipes!
This is a fantastic recipe. I used oyster mushrooms and that worked. After I plated and sat down to eat I wish I had done some chopped flat leaf parsley and a squeeze of lemon. A keeper!
Thanks Bob, glad you enjoyed. Parsley and lemon sound good!
This recipe was lovely! I used Rummo gnocchi, a large mushroom from the farmers market and brown mushrooms. The recipe didn’t specify to slice the fennel lengthwise and I cut it crosswise, but lengthwise looks nicer. The cooking time was a bit longer than the recipe but that may have been my stove. The goat cheese on top was special but my husband enjoyed it both ways. I used a cast iron skillet which helped to carmelize the fennel and brown the gnocchi. Thank you Tonia for this great dish! I’ll be making it again using different mushroom combinations.
Thanks Mary. I noted the recipe on cutting the fennel. So glad you enjoyed. 🙂
Cooking it in a skillet sounds like a great idea! Thanks for sharing, I think I’ll cook it like that next time!
I made this gnocchi dish tonight for dinner& it was so delicious!!
I will definitely make it again!
Thank you Tonia for a yummy& healthy meal!!!
Yay, Great to hear Suzan!
Can you do any or all of this ahead and freeze it?
Maybe, I haven’t tried that. I think it may change the textures a bit. The gnocchi should be fried to order for the best results.