Crab and Asparagus Gnocchi and Cheese
Gnocchi replaces macaroni in this creamy, comforting gnocchi and cheese dish. I mixed in some crab meat and asparagus, you can mix in whatever you’d like!
The other day, Hubby texted me to say I should work from home. He goes in to work at the crack of dawn (around 6am) as I’m just getting out of bed. He warned me that the roads were bad, so with my car being not so great on slippery roads, I heeded his warning and worked from home.
As the day progressed and more snow fell, it was starting to become one of those days where you just want some pure comfort food. I had been eyeing this recipe for a while so I had most of the ingredients on hand – score. I really wouldn’t have to leave the house that day (or change out of my pajamas).
Hubby went to shovel the driveway right after getting home from work and when he came back in we sat down to eat. Now he’s wishing I would work from home more often. 🙂 I love that this recipe uses gnocchi instead of pasta. I used real crab meat, which definitely isn’t cheap, but it’s SO worth the splurge on this recipe. You can taste crab in every bite since the meat is basically shredded and mixed in.
I added asparagus to the recipe because I wanted something green in there. You could leave it out or sub something else in if you wanted. I also reduced the amount of bread crumbs on top after reading the comments on the original recipe. I would love to make this again with different mix-ins. I’m thinking ham and peas would be great.
Two Years Ago: Salted Caramel Pecan Brownies
Three Years Ago: Chocolate Hazelnut Baklava
Four Years Ago: Two Potato Chowder
Five Years Ago: Smashed Chickpea Salad
Crab and Asparagus Gnocchi and Cheese
Gnocchi replaces macaroni in this creamy, comforting gnocchi and cheese dish. I mixed in some crab meat and asparagus, you can mix in whatever you'd like!
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients:
16 oz gnocchi
1 lb cooked crab meat
1 lb asparagus, chopped
4 Tbsp butter, divided
2 Tbsp flour
3 cloves garlic, minced
Zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups whole milk
4 oz shredded gruyere
6 oz shredded havarti
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
pinch smoked paprika
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place a large pot of salted water over high heat. Bring to a boil, and cooked the gnocchi according to the package instructions.
Drain the gnocchi and place in a 9X9 inch baking dish. Add the asparagus and crab meat and mix.
In a large sauce pot melt half of the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour followed by the garlic and lemon zest. Cook for another minute, then add the milk and whisk until smooth.
Once the mixture is warm, add the cheeses. Stir to blend, then add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and paprika. Once smooth, taste for salt and pour the cheese mixture over the crab, asparagus, and gnocchi. Mix and smooth in the baking dish.
Then melt the remaining butter and toss with the bread crumbs. Sprinkle the top with bread crumbs, and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the edges are bubbly and the top is golden.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve warm.
Recipe adapted from A Spicy Perspective
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
love your adaptations- and i agree, one-pot meals usually need more veggies!
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 3:44 pm
Not that this meal is in any way healthy, but at least bumping up the veggies (and the servings) reduces the amount of pure indulgence per serving…
Love all the changes you made to this! And I agree- the more veggies, the merrier 🙂
beantownbaker — March 25th, 2013 @ 3:45 pm
Glad I’m not the only one!
I love that idea to just throw extra veggies in. I always have some leftover unused veggies going bad in the fridge after I’ve used some for a recipe. The biscuits on this look amazing.
This looks rich and satisfying. I love the idea of biscuits on top rather than pie crust. Cream cheese chive biscuits sound especially delicious!
beantownbaker — March 26th, 2013 @ 7:29 am
I definitely plan to make these biscuits again some time. They’d be delicious even without the creamy pot pie filling under them.
I love the thought of throwing the extra veggies in, i think a lot of people are hesitant to do so. This looks so delicious and satisfying 🙂
beantownbaker — March 26th, 2013 @ 8:16 pm
Yea when it comes to cooking, I figure there’s no harm in playing with recipes. Baking is another story…
My boyfriend, who eats a good portion of the overall meals I cook plus leftovers, hates veggies. This is a problem, because I don’t like food going bad but I can’t eat it all myself. I love recipes like this because it’d probably be SO tasty, he’d hardly even notice the abundance of green. Or he’d pick the peas out. Who knows.
beantownbaker — March 26th, 2013 @ 8:16 pm
I can’t imagine hating veggies… But I agree, I think he’d hardly notice the veggies in this. It’s that creamy and delicious.
This recipe looks delicious. Do you know the nutritional values? If you post it on http://www.myrecipemagic.com they will calculate it for you and you can get paid for posting recipes.
I love that you topped this off with biscuits instead of the traditional flaky crust!
beantownbaker — March 28th, 2013 @ 6:53 am
Biscuits are always the right answer 😉