15-Minute Gnocchi Skillet
Refrigerated gnocchi go uncooked into the pan, and they become crispy on the outside.
- Preparation
- 5 min
- Cook/bake time
- 12 min
- Total
- 17 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Calories
Refrigerated gnocchi go uncooked into the pan, and they become crispy on the outside. The trick not only saves you a pot, it also makes the dish better: boiled gnocchi are soft, while pan-fried ones have a crust and the same pillowy inside. Add cherry tomatoes, which break down in the pan and form their own sauce.
Why this works
Refrigerated gnocchi are already cooked, so they only need two minutes in water to get hot. That is exactly why pan-frying works: you skip a step that only provides heat anyway, and replace it with one that also provides a crust. The Maillard reaction on the potato starch requires a dry surface and patience for this. You must not touch the pan for the first three minutes, otherwise the crust will tear off before it is ready. The cherry tomatoes make the sauce in the meantime: their cell walls burst in the heat and release juice, which boils down together with the starch from the gnocchi into a creamy liquid.
Step-by-step instructions
- 1
Pan-fry the gnocchi and leave them alone
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan and add the uncooked gnocchi in a single layer next to each other. Now comes the hard part: do not touch them for three minutes. Only when the crust has formed can they be released without tearing.
- 2
Turn and add garlic
Toss the pan once and fry the gnocchi for another three minutes until they have golden spots all over. Add the garlic and oregano and let them fry for one minute. Do not fry them any longer, as garlic turns bitter in seconds.
- 3
Let the tomatoes break down
Add the halved tomatoes cut side down, salt them and press them open with the back of a spoon after four minutes. They release their juice, and this binds with the gnocchi starch to form a quick sauce. Add a little water if the pan runs dry.
- 4
Finish
Remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle the Parmesan over it and toss in the basil. The cheese melts in the residual heat and becomes stringy. On the stove, it would separate from the fat and become oily.
Our best tips
- Really put the gnocchi in the pan uncooked. They are already cooked, and the pot only brings water to the surface, which prevents the crust.
