Leek and mushrooms gnocchi

Sometimes all I want is the warmth and familiarity of pasta. Growing up Italian inspired dishes were always present in my mom’s and grandma’s kitchen. Italian immigration was big in Brazil specially after slavery was abolished and white landlords refused to employ black people (yes, our history was not always pretty). Plus, lots of immigrants found new home in Brazil during and after WWI and WWII. It is enough to say that their influences in the Brazilian food, mainly in the food from Sao Paulo are present until these days. So no wonder I still crave a carby, saucy pasta every now and then.

To bring up the creaminess and cheesy flavours of traditional white sauces I used a cashew based cream that is super easy to make :)

Ingredients

• 500g fresh gnocchi

• 1 leek stalk chopped

• salt to taste

• cayenne pepper flakes to taste

• 100g of Chanterelle Mushrooms

• 200g of raw cashews

• 1 lime juiced

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 tablespoon nutritional yeast

• water

Instructions

White cashew sauce

In a blender add the cashews, 1/2 cup of warm water, garlic powder, nutritional yeast and 1/2 of the lime juice. Blend until smooth and there are no chunks of cashews left. Save it.

Gnocchi

Add the gnocchi to a saucepan with boiling water. Let it cook for about 7-8 min. Remove from the water and reserve. In a frying pan add the mushrooms, leek and the remaining lime juice, salt and pepper flakes. Add a bit of hot water or olive oil to sautée and let it cook for about 5 min. Add the cashew sauce and stir well to mix all ingredients. Let it cook for another 5 min. You can add more water to adjust the creaminess of the sauce. Remove from heat and add the cooked gnocchi. Stir well so the gnocchi is well coated in sauce and serve.