Gnocchi with taleggio, pears and speck.

5 from 17 votes

Gnocchi with taleggio, pears and speck.

This creamy gnocchi with taleggio recipe is a fabulous easy to make dish. All you need is just 5 main ingredients and very little prep to make this outstandingly delicious recipe in which Italian taleggio is paired with pears and speck and served over fresh potato gnocchi. Serve baked or unbaked.

Prep Time5

Cook Time25

Course: Dinner, lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Italian, Lombardy, Northern Italy

Keyword: baked gnocchi, gnocchi, taleggio

Servings:

Calories: 650kcal

Author: Jacqui

Equipment

1 Deep frying pan or skillet
1 large pot to boil gnocchi

Ingredients

14 ounces potato gnocchi
9 ounces taleggio rind removed and cut into pieces
1 clove garlic peeled and cut into quarters
5 ounces speck or pancetta cut into small cubes or juliennes
3 pears peeled and cut into cubes
½ cup fresh whole milk
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.
salt for gnocchi and to taste
freshly ground black pepper. to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare the ingredients.

Peel the garlic and cut into quarters, peel the pears and cut them into cubes and remove the skin from the taleggio and cut it into pieces too. Finally, if you have a larger piece of speck or pancetta, cut it into small pieces, cubes or juliennes.
Put a pot of water on to boil for the gnocchi. Add salt once it starts to boil and bring to a boil again.

Make the taleggio sauce.

While you wait for the water to boil, heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet add the garlic and once it starts to soften, add the pieces of pear. Sauté the pear until it starts to soften and brown and then add the pieces of speck. Cook the speck until it starts to brown slightly.
Add the pieces of taleggio (keep a few for serving) and stir over a low heat until the cheese melts. Add a little milk or gnocchi cooking water to dilute the sauce, maybe ½ a cup. But add more if you need to. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper according to taste.

Cook the gnocchi, finish and serve.

If using fresh potato gnocchi, cook them in the boiling salted water for just a couple of minutes. Frozen gnocchi will need longer. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi to the cheese sauce. Mix everything together carefully and serve immediately with a few more pieces of taleggio on top.
If you prefer to bake before serving, transfer the gnocchi and taleggio to an oven dish. Sprinkle the top with grated parmigiano or grana and bake in a preheated oven at 180°c (356°F) until the gnocchi start to brown.

Notes

If taleggio cheese isn't available you can use other good melting cheese like fontina. See content for other suggestions.

You can use pancetta instead of speck or omit the meat altogether and use crushed nuts instead.

It's better to use pears that are firm and crispy and not very ripe and soft fruit, which may get mushy when cooked.

For leftover suggestions see main content.

Nutrition