Lobster Gnocchi with Creamy Lobster Sauce

Gnocchi...that delicious Italian comfort food pasta dish of dumplings made with pieces of semolina pasta, flour, or potato that sometimes garnishes soups or can be served solo with a sauce, is getting dressed up for some scrumptious eating with a creamy, zippy sauce and loaded with thick chunks of succulent lobster! Sound a little indulgent? Of course it is...but a little indulgence every now and then adds some spice to life!

This comforting dish comes to you courtesy of Caroline’s Cooking.

Lobster Gnocchi spinach cream sauce Lobster Gnocchi from Caroline's Cooking

   

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Gnocchi Ingredients:

  • 22 1-lb. 6oz. potatoes (625g)
  • 1 ½ cups all purpose flour (210g plain flour)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 ¼ oz. goat’s cheese (35g)

Ingredients for the Lobster Sauce:

  • 2 ½ lb. lobster, cooked and meat removed - keep the shell
  • ½ onion, medium-large
  • 1 large carrot
  • ½ cup water
  • ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
  • ¾ cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch corn flour
  • 1 oz. parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions:

  1. First prepare the gnocchi (if making your own) - peel and cut the potatoes into chunks then place in a pan with plenty of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a low boil. Cook for around 7-10 minutes until the potatoes are tender to a knifepoint. Drain, mash and set aside until cool enough so it’s easy to handle.
  2. Meanwhile, you can start the lobster sauce – toast or dry-fry the lobster shell over a medium heat in a dry skillet / frying pan. Turn after a couple minutes and over again as much as possible. You’ll start to see the shell dray a little. While the shells are toasting, dice the onion and carrot relatively small.
  3. Carefully add the water to the pan with the lobster shell, gradually at first to avoid it splashing too much. Add the onion, carrot and thyme, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for around 10-15 minutes until the carrots are just tender.
  4. While the sauce is simmering, make up the gnocchi by adding the flour, egg and goat’s cheese to the cooled mashed potatoes and mixing until well combined. You might need to finish it off by hand.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and break off chunks at a time to roll the mixture into logs. Cut chunks from the log that are small, bite-size pieces, and roll them gently in your hands to form a ball. Then, set them aside on a floured surface. Repeat with all of the mixture.
  6. Once the carrots are tender, remove the lobster shells from the pan and blend the stock-vegetable mixture that remain (either use a stick / hand blender or transfer to a blender). Add the cream to the mixture and simmer gently for a few minutes until it thickens slightly. Add the cornstarch / cornflour and mix in to help. Add the Parmesan and the lobster broken into relatively small pieces and stir to mix through. Cook for a minute or two more and then set aside.
  7. To cook the gnocchi: Bring a shallow pan of water to a boil over a relatively high heat, then cook the gnocchi in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. Make sure the water stays boiling as you cook. The gnocchi will float to the surface once they are ready. If they don’t do this after a minute or two, nudge them with a spoon as they may have stuck to the bottom of the pan.
  8. Remove the cooked gnocchi from the pan with a slotted spoon and add them to the lobster sauce.
  9. Note: If you think there are too many gnocchi for the number of people / amount of sauce then freeze some before cooking. Lay them on a baking sheet / tray in a single layer, not touching, and freeze them then transfer to a freezer bag. Cook from frozen in the same way as usual. They will take just a minute or two more to cook.

 

Gnocchi is most definitely a dish that can be the perfect cold weather warm up meal, a special Sunday night dinner, or the date-night eat-in dinner for two. The combination of the creamy sauce with savory chunks of cooked and tender lobster meat is a satisfyingly delicious and decadent way to treat your family and friends to something extraordinary. Nosh away!