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Three Cheese Gnocchi

A rich, cheesy Italian side dish, Serves six as a side dish

Course pasta side dish, Side Dish
Cuisine Italian
Keyword gnocchi, three cheese gnocchi
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, freshly grated
  • 3/4 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, freshly grated
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 3/4 cup warm whole milk
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
  • generous pinch of good quality sea salt or kosher salt
  • a few turns freshly ground pepper
  • 16 ounces gnocchi, cooked to package instructions

Optional garnishes: you can garnish with basil leaves, chives, or parsley if desired

Instructions

  1. Grate all your cheeses and toss together, set aside. Warm milk: either on the cooktop or in the microwave, just warm, not hot. Set aside. Set a large pot of salted water on high heat. This is for your pasta. While water heats, make cheese sauce.

  2. In a medium sized saucepan on medium heat melt butter, add salt and pepper. Add flour to melted butter and whisk. This is your roux, it will thicken your cheese sauce.

  3. Very slowly drizzle warm milk into the roux, continually whisking and heat until mixture begins to thicken. When milk is thickened, add cheese a handful at a time, whisk in between additions, slowly adding more as each handful melts.

  4. When cheese is completely melted and sauce is smooth turn off heat.

  5. Add gnocchi to boiling pasta water and cook to package instructions. (I use a fresh gnocchi that cooks in three minutes). Strain, do not rinse. Place in a bowl and pour the cheese sauce over. You can use all the sauce or less, depending on how cheesy you like it. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

You can also use this cheese sauce with other cooked pastas or over veggies!