Creamy Mushroom and Sage Gnocchi

This creamy mushroom and sage gnocchi is the perfect Fall comfort dish. It has pillowy and chewy gnocchi, earthy mushrooms, and fresh sage in a thick and luscious sauce.

Warning! If you are not a fan of mushrooms, turn away, shield your eyes, don’t read ahead. However, if you love mushrooms as much as I do this recipe is for you. This creamy mushroom gnocchi sauce is made with mushrooms 3 ways, yes I did just say 3 ways. The result, an umami packed sauce with unbelievable flavor that will have you going back for more.

MUSHROOMS, FUNGI, TOADSTOOLS…

This dish goes all out when it comes to mushrooms, sautéd, grounded, and roasted. Read on to see the 3 ways mushrooms are incorporated here.

SLICED AND SAUTÉD

The staple to any mushroom cream sauce. The base to this creamy mushroom and sage gnocchi is sliced baby bellas which are extremely common, and found in almost any supermarket. Just a tip, buy them whole and cut them yourself. While pre-sliced mushrooms are convenient, they are kind of… dry. These baby bellas are going to be sautéed with butter, garlic, and shallots until they are nice and brown and then simmered in cream and broth. Before you ask “but wont they get rubbery?”, to an extent yes, but they aren’t simmered for that long. If you keep reading on you will find out that we get texture elsewhere.

DRIED + GROUNDED

This is where the depth of flavor comes from. Sure, some of the mushroom flavor comes from the sliced and simmered baby bellas, but the umami depth, the wow factor is coming from dried mushrooms. A mix works here or if you can’t find a mix, porcini is really the one you are looking for. Sometimes solo dried porcini mushrooms are expensive. I bought a large 16 oz tub from Costco almost a year ago, it was pricey but so worth it. Linking a similar product HERE!

If you absolutely cannot grind this up with a spice grinder use a food processor or blender. If you don’t own any of those you CAN rehydrate the mushrooms in the broth before making the dish. Chop them up and add them to the sauce. Add the mushroom steeped broth + extra to hit the 1 cup of broth in the directions.

ROASTED + TOPPED

The texture. This is why we don’t mind the sliced and sautéed baby bellas to simmer a bit and lose their texture. Here is where you can get adventurous. Oyster, shiitake, and maitake mushrooms roast beautifully and add another layer of flavor to this dish. These mushrooms can sometimes be found loose at Whole Foods or even at farmers markets. You don’t need a lot of them, just enough to sprinkle on top. I understand though if you are making this in a whim and don’t want to spend the extra time and money hunting these varieties down. Feel free to roast up baby bellas either cut in half if they are small or in slices if they are larger.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED FOR CREAMY MUSHROOM GNOCCHI

• Gnocchi – Pre-packaged potato gnocchi can be found in the pasta aisle at most supermarkets. Fresh is great too, but obviously harder to come by if you don’t make your own.
• Mushrooms
  • Baby Bella – Also known as cremini mushrooms, these little brown capped shrooms are the most accessible of the bunch. Mild in flavor, but still earthy and meaty.
  • Shiitake – Native to East Asia shiitake mushrooms are earthy, and often described as meaty and buttery. Look for mushrooms that aren’t bruised, dried up, or slimy.
  • Oyster – Delicate, mild, and savory. Avoid mushrooms that are bruised or wilted, Oyster mushrooms should have a spring to them.
  • Maitake – Also called Hen of the Wood, this variety is less common, but are worth the hunt. Earthy and peppery in flavor this mushroom is said to have a ton of health benefits.
  • Dried – Grounded up, preferably in a spice grinder to produce a super fine powder. A food processor or blender can also be used however you won’t get super fine powder and will have to simmer the small chunks longer in the broth until they are rehydrated. If you didn’t read above, we grind up the dried mushrooms to add to the sauce. A mix with porcinis or just porcinis works.
• Sage – Mushrooms and sage are basically best friends. Fresh is best.
• Garlic– Fresh only!
• Shallots
• Flour – Used to make a roux to thicken the sauce.
• Broth – I like to use beef for this dish, but feel free to also use vegtable.
• Heavy Cream
• Parmesan Cheese – Freshly grated!

HOW TO MAKE CREAMY MUSHROOM GNOCCHI

Roast the Mushrooms – Place mushrooms in a simple layer on a sheet pan. Add a generous amount of olive oil and salt and roast in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 8-10 minutes, flip then roast the other sides for another 8-10 minutes. Remove f

Make the Sauce – In a pan over medium to low heat melt the butter. Once the butter has melted toss in the sage and cook for 1-2 minutes before adding in the garlic, and shallots. Cook for 2-3 minutes until soft and fragrant, but not brown. If it begins to brown the heat is too high, lower it. Add in the mushrooms and with limited mixing cook for another 4-6 minutes until mushrooms are brown. Sprinkle in the flour and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add in the broth and dried mushroom powder. Mix thoroughly incorporating the cooked flour into the broth. Cook until broth has thickened approx 2-3 minutes.

Prep the Gnocchi – While the sauce is cooking bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once the sauce has come together drop the gnocchi in and cook as per packaging. This should only take 2-3 minutes max. Strain, saving 1/4 cup of the water.

Finish the Sauce – Add in the heavy cream and Parmesan cheese to the sauce, mix to combine. Drop the cooked gnocchi in the sauce and simmer for a minute. If the sauce is too thick add a little bit of the reserved gnocchi water. Top with crispy roasted mushrooms, a few fresh leaves of sage and serve immediately.

STORING/REHEATING

Store this gnocchi dish in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days. When ready to reheat, place in a pan with a little extra gnocchi water (save this), and heat on low and covered until warm. The roasted mushrooms unfortunately do not bounce back so only make as much as you need.

Can’t get enough mushrooms? Check out the below recipes!

Mushroom Risotto
Mushroom, Sausage, + Kale Pasta

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