Gluten Free Cauliflower Gnocchi
Cauliflower gnocchi makes for a modern, delicious, vegan spin on a classic. Enjoy with a simple butter pan sauce. Bonus, they’re gluten free!
Welcome to the Lockdown Chow Down.
Join me (almost) daily as we reconnect with one of life’s most simple pleasures, food!
This recipe can be viewed as a cook along on the Culinary Cartel Instagram, by clicking here, or by viewing the “Cauli Gnocchi” highlight on Instagram stories.
There’s nothing more disappointing than a recipe that promises to be “healthier” but just doesn’t live up to the original at all.
This recipe is not one of those! In fact (Italians, don’t hate me) I prefer cauli gnocchi to the potato variety. I get to eat a whole entire bowl of it and feel positively virtuous (why yes, I did eat my RDA of veg servings!) and honestly I can’t tell the difference once I pan fry my little pillows of delight.
I love this gnocchi recipe, for so many reasons. It’s gluten free, uses cauliflower over potatoes, it’s quick to whip up and it’s also (accidentally) vegan. I would say this feeling is rather universal, given the amount of times my repeat clients request this on their menus.
Now we are using cauliflower, so there can be a slight cauli under note to these if you don’t take the time to pan fry them. Pan frying not only makes for delicious crispy pillows, but it will sort any cauli undertones right out, should you be trying to sneak a few hidden veggies past the kids (or any fussy eater for that matter).
I have included a quick butter pan sauce in the recipe, that is really delicious. Use vegan margarine if you want to keep things fully vegan, or you can make one of my ultimate 4 Ingredient Pasta Sauces! My Creamy Vegan Sauce or my Gooey Cherry Tomato Sauce are both amazing on these gnocchi or on any pasta.
If you try this recipe, let us know how it goes! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag your photo #theculinarycartel and #lockdownchowdown on Instagram so we can see what you come up with. Happy cooking!
Frequently Asked Questions
What other sauces can I serve my gnocchi with?
You can serve your gnocchi with my Bolognese sauce, Vegan Creamy Cashew Sauce or My Easy Peasy Gooey Cherry Tomato Sauce !
Can I make this vegan?
The gnocchi are vegan! Simply use plant-based butter in your sauce and enjoy.
Gluten Free Cauliflower Gnocchi
- Total Time: 45 Minutes
- Yield: Serves 2-4
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Cauliflower gnocchi makes for a modern, delicious, vegan spin on a classic. Enjoy with a simple butter pan sauce. Bonus, they’re gluten free!
Ingredients
For the gnocchi
- 500g cauliflower
- 2 tbsp oil, plus extra for pan frying
- 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp gluten free flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
For the sauce
- 50g butter/vegan margarine
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 3 Tbsp chopped capers (optional)
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
- salt and pepper, to taste
Finishing touches (optional)
- grated parmesan
- rocket/micro herbs/baby leaves
Instructions
- Cut the cauliflower florets and stems into even-sized chunks.
- On the stove: Steam the cauliflower until soft (do not boil them!) over a pan of boiling water. Once soft, (you should be able to easily pierce your florets with a sharp knife), cool the cauliflower until you can easily handle it.
In an Instant Pot: Place a trivet in your Instant Pot. Place the florets on top and add 1 cup of water. Secure the lid, then select pressure cook set the pressure level to high, and set the timer to 0 minutes. Once cooked, perform a quick pressure release. The cauliflower should be soft and easily pierced with a knife. - Place the steamed cauli in the centre of a clean dish towel. Wrap the towel around the cauliflower and twist the towel together, pressing all the excess water out of the steamed florets.
- Scrape the dry cauliflower meal into the bowl of a food processor or blender along with the 2Tbsp oil. Blend (scraping down the sides to ensure an even puree) until you have a nice thick cauli puree. Add the cauli puree to a bowl, and add the remaining dry ingredients. Mix the puree and dry ingredients together until you have a soft, slightly sticky and pliable dough. If you are using a food processor to puree your cauliflower and not a blender, this entire step can be done inside the machine.
- We will be dusting our dough with flour to help roll it out, however, should the dough be a little too sticky, just knead in a bit more gluten-free flour, a tablespoon at a time, until it is more manageable.
- Flour your work surface with gluten-free flour. Divide the dough into 3-4 balls, and roll the balls out to form long even sausages about 2cm thick, adding more flour as necessary to stop the dough from sticking.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the dough sausages into small 2cm-ish dumplings. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Place a large pot of salted water over high heat, until it comes to a rolling boil. Drop in the gnocchi and cook them for about 3 minutes, or until all the gnocchi has floated to the surface of the water. Drain the gnocchi and allow to steam dry in the colander for 2 minutes.
- Place a pan over high heat. Add a small drizzle of oil, just enough to coat the base of the pan, and add the gnocchi. Fry the gnocchi until it is nice and golden on all sides, before removing it from the pan. Set it aside until later.
- Place the pan back on the heat and add the butter and optional capers. Fry everything in the butter until it just starts to brown, then quickly add the lemon juice to prevent the butter from cooking further and burning. *FYI vegan marge will not really go brown, so simply just fry the capers for 1 minute until a little crisp, then add the lemon juice. Take the pan off the heat, add the parsley and toss in the gnocchi, to warm through. Season everything to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve your gnocchi, immediately while nice and hot, with a nice sprinkle of grated parmesan, and a small handful of rocket or baby herbs.
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 35 Minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 314.2kcal
- Sugar: 1.29g
- Sodium: 274.51mg
- Fat: 18.28g
- Saturated Fat: 7.97g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9.57g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 35.22g
- Fiber: 1.31g
- Protein: 3.99g
- Cholesterol: 28.57mg
