Tofu gnocchi – easy to make, soft and delicious

This tofu gnocchi is flavourful dumplings that have the right pillowy consistency and are very easy to make! Comfort food at it best!

Tofu gnocchi….. there is something comforting about those little “pillows” of food. It is my go-to meal when I simply want something that will give me a big warm hug and satisfy my need for comfort. Especially on those rainy days like today 🙌 You need those in your life …

what is gnocchi?

Traditionally, gnocchi is a small Italian dumpling made out of 3 ingredients: potatoes, flour or semolina and water with a pinch of salt 😉( well tats kind of 3,5 ingredients 😁) served with a pasta sauce. I might not be Italian but I can easily say that gnocchi has been in my Polish-rooted diet from when I was a child. This was something we ate in my house on regular basis.

There’s no place you can buy gnocchi, ( in Poland called “kopytka”), as good as the ones you make yourself at home. For some reason, I always associated them with a lot of work so I never attempted to make some. I just went down to the shop and bought few packets of them that had a minimal ingredient list. You probably know me by now…. I do not like strange-sounding ingredients in my food hence the blog name ( ingredients you can pronounce 😉).

Well, today was the day that I decided to give it a go. After doing some research I came up with a list of few tips that seem to be very important to make them just right.

tips for making this easy tofu gnocchi recipe:

• Measure every ingredient carefully. This is important for making this easy tofu gnocchi recipe retain that soft, pillowy goodness.
• Drop your gnocchi into an ice water bath after cooking. This will help stop the cooking process and give you that perfect gnocchi texture.
• Add just enough flour to hold the dough together, and don’t overmix. The problem is tough gnocchi is usually one of two things (or both): too much flour in the dough or too much kneading.
• the dough should be kneaded just until the flour is fully incorporated, not a moment longer; otherwise, gluten will develop and make the gnocchi tough (if using plain flour).

and the best tip of all:

Toss your gnocchi with oil or vegan butter in my case after cooking and fry for few minutes. This will help keep the gnocchi from sticking and give them nice crunchy crust – is a game changer!

You might wonder at this point …..traditional gnocchi is made out of potato and there is no potato in my recipe. Wee you are right. I find that potatoes a quite stoggy and can make u feel pretty heavy and bloated especially when mixed with flour. Another factor I took into consideration was I wanted more protein, not a carb-loaded meal that will make me feel sleepy. It is summertime and I was searching for a gnocchi recipe that was light, delicious, and nutritious! That’s how tofu gnocchi was born.

Save time: skip the fork

Classic Italian homemade gnocchi is pressed on a fork to curl them to give them the traditional ridges. To save time, I just cut them into small squares and leave them as cute little pillows. Less fuss to and another reason to make them!

Print

4.67 from 6 votes

Tofu gnocchi

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Active Time15 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: dinner, lunch, Main Course

Keyword: quick and easy recipe, summer dinner recipe

Yield: 3

Author: longhanna

Equipment

• food processor

Materials

gnocchi

• 400 grams tofu
• 140 gram whole grain white spelt flour ( you can use plain white flour)
• 100 grams potato starch
• 2 tbls sugar use any other sweetner like xylitol or stevia
• juice of one lemon
• 1 tsp vegan butter or oil for frying

berry sauce

• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 tbls water
• 1 tbls lime juice plus zest IMPORTANT flavour factor

Instructions

• add tofu and lemon juice to your blender and blitz till smooth.
• add the rest of the ingredients till the ball forms. NO LONGER.
• divide the dough ball into 4 eaqual pieces.
• roll each piece into a long sausage and cut them into equal little pillows 😁 and set them on the tray till you used all your dough.
• sprinkle them with extra flour to prevent them from sticking together.
• In a large sausepan boil some water and add a pinch of salt.
• Set a bowl of ice water on the side.
• Cook your tofu gnocchi in batches. I did 3 batches.
• Place each batch in the ice water to prevent them from cooking more.
• When all your gnocchi is cooked and cooled drain them out of the water.
• Heat the non stick frying pan and add your vegan butter or oil if using and fry them in batches till you get that slightly crispy and crunchy outside.

Berry sauce

• Add your ingredients to the pan and heat them up till they liquid reduces slightly.
• Pur the sauce over your tofu gnocchi and simply enjoy!

Interesting tofu facts:

• Tofu originated in China but has a Japanese name
  We know that tofu was first made in China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), and the oldest evidence of tofu making has been dated back to 25-220 AD (depicted in a Chinese mural).

• The word “tofu” is derived from the Mandarin word, “doufu,” which literally translates to “curdled bean.” However, “tofu” is a Japanese word and is closely tied to Buddhism.
• It is believed that over 2,000 years ago, a Chinese cook accidentally discovered it by curdling soy milk using nigari seaweed!
• you can eat tofu “skin”. Tofu skin is the film that is produced from boiling soy milk. The films are then dried into yellowish sheets also known as yuba. It is used in a variety of Chinese and Japanese dishes.