Gnocchi Mac and Cheese

For this round of the recipe swap, I was given Christina’s blog Tales from the Mad Men Kitchen. This this is a blogger’s choice swap, I got to select the recipe to make. There are a lot of great looking recipes on her blog so it took me quite a while to make a selection. Although she had some baked things on her blog, for the recipe swaps I like to make something different. So I picked probably the most unseasonable recipe I could find: Gnocchi Mac and Cheese.

So this is the perfect comfort food for winter: potato gnocchi with a creamy cheese sauce. Of course I chose to make it on a bright, sunny 80 degree day. Now most of you are laughing, as I know the weather has been extreme in the country. But 80 in Seattle is hot. We don’t have air conditioning. If it is 80 degrees outside, it’s at least that warm inside. Not exactly the time I want to be standing over the stove making cheese sauce, but this was pretty great so I think it was worth it.

I did change the types of cheese this uses, based on what I had already. I think you could use almost any cheese you want and it would likely turn out. I used a spicy brown mustard and that was the strongest flavor in this dish. I like mustard so I was ok with this, but if that’s not a flavor you like use milder mustard. I added more milk than the original recipe as the sauce was so thick. I could have added even more if you had wanted a saucier sauce. This did come together fairly fast, so it wasn’t too bad to make on a hot day. It was really excellent and my husband and I ate it right up! Thanks for the recipe Christina!

Gnocchi Mac and Cheese

1 pound purchased or homemade gnocchi

2 2ablespoons butter

2 teaspoons minced garlic

3 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

3 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 cup shredded white Cheddar

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan 

Preheat oven to 375.

Prepare gnocchi according to package directions. Drain and place gnocchi in a 1-1/2 quart shallow baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Whisk in flour until it thickens and bubbles, then whisk in milk and Dijon. Continue to whisk mixture and cook until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. (This happened almost instantly for me.)

Combine the Cheddar and mozzarella, and then add by the handful to milk mixture, stirring until melted before adding the next handful. Once all of the cheese is incorporated, season with salt and pepper.

Pour sauce over gnocchi and sprinkle the Parmesan over the top. Bake until the cheese is golden and bubbly, about 25 minutes. Let gnocchi rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Recipe from Tales from the Mad Men Kitchen