Gnocchi Truffle Alfredo

This meal comes together super quickly thanks to a little help from store bought gnocchi. But, we’re going to make a rich and delicious cream sauce laced with white truffle oil. Then, we’re garnish the whole bowl with lots of cheese, fresh cracked black pepper, and another light drizzle of truffle oil. It’s absolute decadence in a bowl!

Today’s sauce is pretty much my new go to when it comes to any cream based pasta sauce. We’ve talked about it here before, and it’s one of the best things to come out of my quarantine kitchen this year. It’s quick, simple, and ready to go in less than 10 mins! So it starts with a little butter, a little white truffle oil, and some fresh garlic. We’ll saute the garlic until it’s fragrant, and then we add our creamy components.

Once the garlic is fragrant, we’re going to add some milk, heavy cream, cream cheese, some freshly shredded parmesan cheese, and a couple special seasonings. To really amp up the funky mushroomy flavors of truffle, I like to add a little pinch of Trader Joe’s Umami Seasoning to this sauce. We’re also going to use some truffle salt to season up our sauce. Now, if you don’t have or don’t feel like going out to get the umami seasoning, you can double up on the truffle salt for this one.

After the creamy components are melted and the sauce is seasoned, we’ll let it simmer for about 5 minutes. And, that’s it! Sauce is done! From there, we can add some cooked gnocchi straight from the boiling pot to the sauce pan. Now for the gnocchi, I like to use the store bought kind that you can buy right in the pasta section of your grocery store. But, there are also versions you can buy in the freezer section, and of course you can always make your own. Whichever option you choose, just make sure you time the cook of your gnocchi so both the gnocchi and the sauce will be ready at the same time.

Now we could stop right here, and we’d have a delicious bowl of pillowy goodness. The truffle flavor in the sauce is light and subtle. Or, we could load up our gnocchi with garnishes consisting of more parm, more black pepper, and another drizzle of truffle oil. I highly recommend option B, because those extra garnishes take this dish from wow to WOW. It’s important to keep in mind that truffle oil is very strong, so you want to use a light hand when you add that extra finishing drizzle. But, it really does take this dish to the next level of decadence.

When it’s time to eat, we have comfort food in a bowl. The gnocchi is soft and chewy. The sauce is rich and creamy. The truffle is fancy and funky. And the extra cheese that we add on top gets melty and gooey which just completes the whole experience. If I closed my eyes, I might just be able to transport myself back to that open aired dinner in Cinque Terre overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.

Ok, everyone. I hope you’ve enjoyed our little vacation today! Tell me, where’s the first place you’ll travel when it’s 100% safe again?

I hope you all enjoy, have a great weekend, and let’s eat!