Brown Butter Gnocchi with Spinach and Pine Nuts

This looks and tastes incredibly elegant for a dish that takes less than 20 minutes to prepare. It’s good enough to serve to company, but fast enough that you won’t mind throwing it together after a long day at work. Although this is a “Winter Recipe” according to Cooking Light, it was surprisingly light and fresh tasting, even with the butter sauce. I certainly wouldn’t mind eating it throughout the Spring and Summer months! If you’re unfamiliar with gnocchi, it’s a pasta made primarily from potatoes, with flour and sometimes other ingredients mixed in. I was excited to find that my grocery store carries whole wheat gnocchi, which has slightly better nutrition information than the average variety.  This is a great dish and the Parmesan cheese finishes it off beautifully. I absolutely recommend this for any occasion you’d like to whip up something that looks impressive with minimal time and effort.

Brown Butter Gnocchi with Spinach and Pine Nuts

Source: slightly adapted from Cooking Light’s 91 Easy Winter Recipes 2011, Canadian Edition

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz) package of vacuum-sealed whole wheat gnocchi (you can use regular potato gnocchi if you can’t find whole wheat)
2 T butter
2 T pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, minced
10 oz fresh baby spinach, torn
¼ t salt
¼ t freshly ground black pepper
1 oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (1/4 c)

Directions:
1.    Cook gnocchi according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2.    In a large sauté pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add pine nuts and cook for 3 minutes or until butter and pine nuts begin to brown. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add gnocchi and spinach and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until spinach is wilted. Stir in salt and pepper. Divide evenly onto four plates and sprinkle each serving with 1 T Parmesan cheese.

Yields 4 (scant 1 c) servings. Weight Watchers Points Plus:  8 per serving